I've been reading lately about LEAN Start-ups and the "rules" that this entails. And I'm a big fan. Not necessarily of the rules per se, but of the concept in general.
I was introduced to the concept of LEAN when I was at Orion Health, and the CEO, a passionate serial innovator, was looking at the Toyota way and seeing how it could apply to software development. While not that long ago, this was something that hadn't yet been done, or even discussed much. We employed some of the world's leading LEAN consultants, and they hadn't really done much with software companies. As usual, we were early adopters, and reaped the rewards and suffered the pains that one associates with being.
What appealed to me most about LEAN methodology was the constant innovation, the collaboration of the team, the ability for one team member, ANY team member, to explore an improvement and make that improvement if it improved the life of the team and/or the final product. I REALLY loved the customer centricity and the need to constantly innovate to improve both process and customer experience that LEAN spoke of.
Customer centric marketing has been a popular term for many years now, and many companies invest heavily in CRM and analytics technologies in an effort to better use customer data to sell to prospects and customers. The most successful few have learned how to better use customer data to BUILD better software to solve problems for customers and prospects. The BEST companies, hardware, software, services and consumer goods, constantly scrutinize and innovate to better use customer data to improve and solve problems for customers and prospects.
Whether you employ the exact rules of the LEAN start up or not, perhaps the most important of these is the constant customer centric approach. There's no way I can get all of this into one blog post, and customer centricity, CRM approaches and learnings is a theme for my professional life, happily.
It may not have started with, but certainly gained clarity with Patricia Seybold's "customers.com" in 1998, and it's been a theme ever since.
Why then am I discussing this now? Well, I've been with successful companies, and unsuccessful ones. And their lack of success wasn't just whether I did my job well or not, but often a more deep problem.
Companies can be successful to a point if they address a business problem, but that success stalls at a certain point if they do not continue to innovate and address customer's ongoing needs. And it needs to be a dialogue, not a monologue.
Sitting in a room and trying to solve your customers' problems, or analyzing why a competitor won a deal or deals, or why a customer did not renew, can help you improve BUT IT CAN'T HELP YOU WIN. Small anecdotal pieces of information, what the customer said to let you down easy, data gathered online: none of this will suffice. This is why it is important to maintain an ongoing dialogue with your customer- so that when the chips are down, they will be honest about what really needs improving. They won't always, or even usually, be able to help you fix it, but ONLY THEY can articulate their problem.
And if they can't articulate it to you? They'll find someone who is a better listener.
So, why is developing software without customers like masturbation? Because, while it can be somewhat satisfying, it just isn't as fulfilling as with a real partner (*ahem* in this case, your customer).
note: this post isn't really a tease, just the beginning of the conversation. flirting.
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