There's a lot of talk going around marketing circles lately, positing that today's customers have become spoiled brats, expecting everything "now," and throwing a major, public tantrum when they don't get what they want.
I think this is completely false, and just another example of marketing and management hubris. In fact, one could say that managers and marketers are behaving more like spoiled brats than their customers are.
Actually, customers are expecting what they have always expected - they expect companies to keep the promises they make in their marketing content. When those promises are broken, customers have always expressed their frustrations to those within earshot. But now they can do so in public - where even head-in-the-sand managers can see what's happening.
Now, the person checking into a hotel in Las Vegas (which I did myself recently, there on business), doesn't have to suffer in silence while waiting a HALF HOUR to check in. They can whip our their smartphone and tweet about it to thousands of other people.
As you read this, you are seven conversations away from higher revenue - and making The Shift to customer-centricity. Take it from someone who has "been there, done that" - Dan Fylstra, CEO of Frontline Systems, who writes:
"What's it like to have Kristin Zhivago as a revenue coach? I think our return in incremental revenue from implementing the changes resulting from her work was probably 50x -100x her consulting fees, and would have been more if we had acted on them sooner. But even more valuable was the change of thinking that working with Kristin induced in me and my key people. It was a shift from a customer-centric view in theory to a much more reality-based, customer-centric approach in practice. Like the credit card commercials, that part has been 'priceless.'" - Daniel Fylstra, CEO of Frontline Systems
I'm putting this admittedly horn-tooting quote in the Revenue Journal for one reason: to help you realize that you are seven conversations away from making The Shift from a
Steve Cody, writing in Inc., asks, "Have you ever walked in your customer's shoes?" We all need to do this now - more importantly, we need to do something about what we discover. Fortunately there's an easy way to get into the heads of customers, in addition to the advice given in the article: Interview the people who have already bought from you, as I recommend in my book.
I've been interviewing marketers myself this past year, having given a number of keynotes and webinars for MarketingSherpa and MarketingProfs. I always interview attendees prior to giving any kind of speech, and I think this article is right on when it says that 75% of the CMOs interviewed have never experienced their brand from the outside in. No wonder there is a terrible gap between what marketers are promising and the experiences that customers are having with their companies.
Here's one of the best interviews I've seen in a long time.
Brian Solis, who is always interesting, is interviewing Jim Farley, Ford's Group Vice President, Global Marketing, Sales and Service (how's THAT for a lot of responsibility?). Jim is a wonderful example of a customer-centric marketer, a true thought leader.
He reminds me how important it is for marketers to have courage - but that courage can only come from a personal understanding of how customers really think. He also shows how marketing can LEAD a company, by understanding, communicating, and leveraging his knowledge of the customer's experience.
I think that is what Steve Jobs understood better than anyone - Apple's products put the customer's experience first, and the technology second.The technology was used to improve the customer's experience, rather than the customer having to adjust to the limitations of the technology.
Right now, someone is coming to your website or contacting one of your salespeople, already convinced that they need something similar to what you're selling, but not sure if they should buy it from you. They have questions.
They look for the answers to those questions on your website, or ask your salesperson. But they don't find the answers, or your attempts to answer those questions don't satisfy them. They walk away empty-handed.
You've just lost the sale. All because you didn't know what their real concerns were - so, of course, you didn't answer their questions successfully. Instead, you did what everyone does. You assumed you knew what their questions and concerns were and recited your boilerplate answers to the assumed questions. And, just like everyone else, you were wrong.
You could turn this situation around, in a couple of weeks, without spending any money, using the resources currently at your disposal. Here is a simple system that works - no matter what you're selling or who you're selling it to.
Steve O'Keefe, co-founder and COO of SixEstate, a newsblogging company, recently experienced the Roadmap to Revenue method for himself. He recently blogged about his experience, in an article entitled "Case Study: The Zhivago Method." Here's what he discovered - about himself, his business, and his customers. Reprinted with permission.
What are the factors that drive customers to your door? You might think you know the answer to that question. I thought I did.
We immediately hit it off. Kristin is a no-nonsense, get-down-to-business management consultant. We fairly quickly agreed to exchange online marketing services for management consulting, and we embarked on The Zhivago Method.
Selling was something that worked when the customer knew less than you did. Selling was something that worked when customers had to depend almost exclusively on companies for information about products produced by those companies. Selling was all about "convincing" someone that they "needed" something.
Well, those days are gone, over, kaput. Not in the minds of company managers, sales managers, or salespeople, mind you. Nope, they're still playing the game as if selling still works, and selling still matters. It doesn't.
Customers begin their buying process with a need and a set of questions. Note that the need already exists. They start their research doing one of two things: they search on Google (for Low- to Medium-Scrutiny products and services) or they talk to their peers (for Heavy-Scrutiny and Intense-Scrutiny products and services). They start getting answers and recommendations, from other customers who have purchased the same product or service that they are thinking of buying. In other words, they turn to the Customer Community for answers - using reviews, discussion groups, blogs, and direct contact via email and conversations.
I recently gave two keynotes for MarketingSherpa's B2B Summits, and am also doing some webinars for MarketingProfs. Prior to these events, I interviewed marketers who would be attending, so I could meet my goal of delivering presentations that were helpful, eye-opening, and radically career-enhancing.
These interviews are a good example of the Roadmap method in action, and the results were predictably successful. When I did speak in Boston and San Francisco, no one was doing their email or playing with their iPads while I was speaking, and there was a long line of very enthusiastic marketers getting their books signed after I spoke.
During the course of the interviews, one of the questions I asked was: What is the source of your information about customers?
They all said the same thing. Every single one. Small and large companies, newbies and veterans, all kinds of industries.
If you stopped reading EVERYTHING you read about marketing and sales, and spent that time over the next two weeks interviewing your customers, you'd be so far ahead, you would barely be able to contain your joy and enthusiasm.
I know, because I do this for my clients, and that's what happens to them. I just did this for a big organization and several very small ones. In each case, the CEOs, partners, managers, and VPs were flabbergasted and thrilled, all at the same time.
"Now we know what to do!"
"Oh, wow - no wonder that wasn't working!"
"Finally - direction. This is so helpful."
"This is priceless stuff."
The eyes open. The fog lifts. The uncertainty vanishes. The pride swells, although it is tempered with the humiliation of all those things that seemed so important, which turn out to be unimportant - or even an impediment to growth.
These phrases are the lingua franca of marketing and sales. And they are rude! Offensive to the very people they are referring to - the very buyers who are considered "the target market." And they are a symbol of all that is wrong with marketing and selling right now.
Let's take off our selling and marketing hats for a moment and look at these words from the buyer's perspective.
Objections. I don't have objections. I have valid concerns because of negative experiences with sellers. I've heard all the promises before. When I've believed the promises and bought, I've discovered how they were lying to me.
It's no big deal when the disappointment involves small, inexpensive decisions. But it is a very big deal when my career or my business or my family's financial future is on the line. That's why I have learned not to trust the fancy promises. I have learned to doubt, and to question, and to talk to my friends (or working peers). It's easier than ever to talk to other buyers or read what they've written online; I can gather a lot of data from talking to them before I ever talk to a salesperson, visit a website, or even go to a search engine.
There's a lot of talk going around marketing circles lately, positing that today's customers have become spoiled brats, expecting everything "now," and throwing a major, public tantrum when they don't get what they want. 
Steve Cody, writing in Inc., asks, "Have you ever walked in your customer's shoes?" We all need to do this now - more importantly, we need to do something about what we discover. Fortunately there's an easy way to get into the heads of customers, in addition to the advice given in the article: Interview the people who have already bought from you, as I recommend in my 
Right now, someone is coming to your website or contacting one of your salespeople, already convinced that they need something similar to what you're selling, but not sure if they should buy it from you. They have questions. 
"Overcome their objections."
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