When you work for a consumer goods company – it’s easy to know who your customers are. They are the people who buy your product, right? But what if your business is selling to other businesses? What if you work in a multinational company? Who is the customer?
One simple way to break this down is to work with the client/customer distinction. The WiseGeek suggests that looking into the history of these words can provide us some direction. The word “customer” is related to “customs” in the sense that a custom is a way of “doing things,” while “client” comes from the Latin cliens meaning dependent or follower. There are plenty of other nuances, but for our purposes, let’s go with:
Customers – a person or entity who buys goods or services. The customer relationship is based on a transaction of some sort
Clients – those customers who not only purchase goods or services, but also seek advice. This pushes the relationship to a deeper level
What we have seen over the last decade or so is a transformation of the relationship between our businesses and our customers. There are increasingly sophisticated approaches to customers that provide not just transactional value, but deeper engagement. Sometimes this occurs through customer relationship management systems, branding and social media. Sometimes this occurs through the personal one-on-one relationships we make at the storefront, on the support desk or over the phone. Often these “touchpoints” are monitored, tracked and evaluated. The data is pooled and cross-matched to help businesses improve their processes, products and customer service.
But it strikes me that while we are making an effort to turn our customers into clients, there is also enormous value in understanding customers as customers. This is especially true in the business to business world where we are working mostly with “clients”.
But let us not forget that these clients have customers of their own.
What would we do differently if we needed to reach our clients’ customers? This is not to suggest leapfrogging your clients. But how could you work with your clients to create value that extends beyond your relationship so that it directly impacts your clients’ customers. Perhaps we could call this “co-innovation.”
How do we get there? This is what I call “customer oriented thinking,” and it is something I’ll be investigating in the coming months as part of the innovation program we’re running at the SAP Premier Customer Network.
Nina Nets It Out: We have had decades of customer relationship management and eCommerce – and a slew of terms used to describe how we relate to our customers and clients. Perhaps the real opportunity for business leaders is not in the transaction, but in the deeper relationship that comes from co-innovation.
Earlier this year I took on a new role – leading SAP’s Premier Customer Network. Now, I have been working with SAP since 2004 and have taken on some challenging roles, but there was something particularly interesting about this opportunity. And while I could not quite articulate the attraction at first, some months into the role, it is certainly becoming clearer.
If you take a look at the blogs I read and the topics I write about, they are clearly focused around the topic of leadership. But I have restricted this focus on what it means personally, to be a leader. I have written about how we become leaders, what we can (and sometimes cannot) do as leaders and the role of communication, teamwork and how to manage the “work-life balance.” And now my new role, my new focus is taking me in a slightly different direction – I’m fascinated by the idea of Customer Leadership.
Customer Leadership is like a business tango – relying on passion and commitment to the dance – but still allowing the participants to go on to separate lives once the music ends. It’s living and giving 110% in the moment, but also being willing to walk away at the drop of a hat when the balance of power shifts too much to one side. In this way, Customer Leadership only exists when there is participation by the business and the customer – in some form of balance.
As Head of SAP’s Premier Customer Network for North America, my role is to help our organization hear the music of the dance. I’m no longer calling the tune, but responding to the shifting needs of our customers, and the changing business conditions that are transforming the economy before my eyes. I am also making introductions, connecting individuals, business units and teams. I’m not talking the talk or walking the walk – I’m tripping the light fantastic, showcasing innovative leaders not just from my business but from within this network of customers. It’s very much a process of reinvention – not just for me and my team, but for our customers as well. Finding a new way ahead together is proving, for me at least, one of the most exciting times of my career. And while it’s early days, we’re all focused on and beginning to see, serious results.
I’m looking forward to sharing more of this journey with you.
Nina Nets it Out: Customer Leadership is a far more delicate process than corporate leadership. It comes down to relationships, to benefits and to value – all the hard to measure intangibles of the business world. But I am convinced this is a true future of business.
The issue of remuneration is challenging for any leader or manager. For sure, we want our teams to feel rewarded for the work that they do – but that reward doesn’t always have to manifest in monetary form, after all there are a number of ways that we are motivated. However, there really is a tipping point.
Dan Pink shares his great insight around what motivates us in this video. One of the key takeaways for me is that monetary reward only incentivizes a simple type of performance – and that for any other type of challenge requiring even a moderate level of creative or conceptual – it can act as a disincentive. Now, I don’t know about your business, but the majority of organizations that I deal with are far from simple. In fact, they often go beyond “complex”. And it is in this space – that we most readily respond to three motivating forces:
Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose
Watch the video to learn more. It’s enlightening.
But before you do, let me leave you with this … Dan Pink explains that these motivational forces really only come into play once you have taken “money off the table.” That is – you are paying your teams well enough that money is not an issue. And sometimes, just understanding what that level is can be a challenge.
Nina Nets It Out: In a complex business world it comes as no surprise that we are motivated by complex forces. The surprising thing is, is that we focus so closely on monetary rewards – which are often the easiest to solve. Taking money off the table can open the door to other, more valuable motivating forces that can transform the ways in which your teams perform.
There was a time when business was done face-to-face. Sure there’d be some travel, but it was over shorter distances. We’d have networks of offices spread across the country servicing our customers in close proximity to one another. We’d know our bosses and their families intimately – we’d play golf, send our kids to the same schools and the team building retreat would be held in a neighboring town.
This was another time – and another world.
These days, our bosses can be across the country – or across the planet. We spend our time on conference calls, video and virtual conferences and yes, planes. We snatch productivity from the dead hours of airport lounges and the long nights of jetlag re-adjustment.
We have lost the proximity that helped us create culture, build and motivate our teams and intimately service our customers. As leaders, however, it is our role (and our challenge) to bring our customers and our teams closer together in a way that harmonizes all our interactions across time and space.
Now, you may think I am referring to technology – to social media, blogs and the like. Yes, these have a place – and a very productive place it can be. But I am taking my lead here from John Baldoni’s Harvard Business Review blog post – How to Lead Without Saying a Word. John suggests that our non-verbal cues often say more than our words ever do – and in a “long distance relationship” with our teams, we need to be careful that our leadership style, messages, directives and suggestions are not misinterpreted.
Clearly this is easier said than done, but, John’s key points provide us a pathway:
Relax: When you are speaking on the phone, your voice will sound “thinner” than it is in real life. By relaxing your neck and throat and breathing deeply into your stomach, you will free your diaphragm. This will help your voice to drop a little. This give you a deeper, warmer voice. It sounds “more real”.
Invite conversation: Make sure that you have a list of all attendees on the call. Where possible, ensure that each person contributes – and if someone is silent, invite them to contribute on a particular topic. Remember, silence can appear forbidding – and you want collaboration and communication, not fear.
Keep your powder dry: Encourage your team to participate early in the call. Add value where appropriate, but make sure that many voices are heard. Should a discussion escalate, step in at the right time – keep your voice steady and measure your words. Bring your skills and experience to bear and refocus the conversation on the agenda and the objectives.
To these points, I would also add the following:
Encourage connection: Where possible, find ways to connect up people in your teams. If particular individuals are closely located, build projects around their involvement. Do the same for people who seem to “click”.
Over thank: Encouragement breeds confidence. Even a short email or voicemail message saying “thanks” will put your team into a productive frame of mind.
Nina Nets It Out: Many of us are now working in locations that are separate from our teams. This demands new practices from leaders – think through what works for your “local” teams and translate that to new ways of working that help drive productivity and job satisfaction in your team members no matter where they work or live.
Last week I attended SAP’s premier customer event in Orlando – Sapphire Now. It is a feast of presentations, discussions, forums and workshops. There are keynote sessions, luncheons, chance meetings and conference floor demonstrations – and around 50,000 people in three locations – Orlando, Frankfurt and online via the SapphireNow virtual conference platform.
As with most conferences, it is not always about the mainstage. For example, SAP ran a Women’s Executive Leadership Breakfast event where attendees were treated to a conversation with Jeanne Ross, the director of MIT Sloan School’s Center for Information Systems Research. Tara Degler writes that rather than leading in with a raft of presentation slides, Jeanne shared her story – leaving the audience with three important actionable insights:
Work smarter – It is one thing to be busy – but quite another to be “productive.” When you multiply this across your organization, the effect can be profound.
Empower your people – Make sure that each and every role in your business is professionalized. Provide the structure to help make your teams successful and give them the power to achieve.
Create the space for unlearning – Old habits die hard, so when you want to transform your business and they way that people work, remember that it takes time to unlearn.
But how do you apply this thinking to your own situation? Are you working smarter? Are you empowering yourself? Are you able to unlearn?
Take a look at this brief interview with Shari Temple from Aidmatrix where she talks about the challenges of finding a mentor. While things have changed over the last 20 years, one of the most important steps we can take is (as Art Petty says), ask for a mentor. After all, as this breakfast demonstrates, there is no dearth of women leadership talent.
Nina Nets It Out: It’s great to attend events and be inspired by those you hear and those you meet. The challenge is taking your learnings back into the office with you. If you don’t have a mentor, think about reaching out to someone you respect. It could change your career.
I have written many times in the past on the subject of wanting more women in technology roles – or in the wider field of business. This is not just a favorite topic of mine – it has dramatic ramifications for every business, large and small.
As Claire Cain Miller reports in the New York Times, there are clear correlations between having women on the board of a corporation and out-performing your competition:
In a study analyzing the relationship between the composition of corporate boards and financial performance, Catalyst, a research organization on women and business, found a greater return on investment, equity and sales in IT companies that have directors who are women.
But this issue is not so simply solved. It is not a question of talent – for there are certainly many gifted and driven women entrepreneurs. The problem is supply.
From my own experience, for every job that I advertise, the number of women applying seems to fall. So while the skill base of women continues to grow – capturing around 60% of associate, bachelor and masters degrees, these numbers don’t translate to a ready pool of women business leaders. Certainly not in contrast to the numbers of men.
It can’t be just me noticing this.
I have a feeling that the problem is not one of capability – but one of visibility. We need to trumpet our successes. We need to showcase our expertise. And perhaps, most importantly, we need to encourage others to do the same.
Nina Nets It Out: When it comes to women leaders, we need to feed both ends of the funnel. We need to increase the size of the pool and we need to showcase those who are achieving success. Please share your successes in the comments below.
Ada Byron, also known as Ada Lovelace was born in 1815. The daughter of the famous poet, Lord Byron, applied her naturally creative mind to the study of mathematics – attempting to put the science of mathematics and technology into an “appropriate human context” (you can read more about Ada here). Today is Ada Lovelace Day – and in celebration of this remarkable woman, my colleague Marilyn Pratt is encouraging people to share their stories of other remarkable women. As part of the Ada Lovelace Day Blog Heroine series, I would like to honor Massy Mehdipour.
Founder and CEO of Skire, a construction and software business, Massy has shown the tenacity, imagination and passion to make her business successful. Along the way she has helped build and nurture the careers of dozens of her employees and become an integral part of the way that many Fortune 1000 companies manage their large scale construction projects.
Like Ada, Massy’s mathematical skills opened the door way to opportunity. She moved to Canada from Iran at age 18 to study at McGill University. From there she went to UC Berkeley to attend graduate school. But it’s not just her background or her experience that makes Massy inspirational. It’s her passion.
I have been fortunate to have met with Massy on a number of occasions and met her for lunch recently. When she speaks of her life and her experience – of the way that she focuses on people, their expertise and their abilities – it is clear that she not only inspires trust but also confidence. She drives business from what could be called a “people-centric” view. She restlessly seeks innovative ways of working with her teams and her clients – and empowers them to deliver.
It seems to me that on a day honoring women in technology and science, that it is only befitting that Massy Mehdipour’s name be counted among the greatest and most inspiring women leaders in technology today.
Nina Nets It Out: Massy Mehdipour is a remarkable woman and a worthy addition to a growing list of women technology leaders. Who would you add to this impressive list on Ada Lovelace Day?
On this day, ninety-nine years ago, the first International Women’s Day was declared. And yet, almost a century on, women and girls continue to struggle on many fronts. There is inequality, discrimination, violence, poverty and exploitation – that particularly affects women and girls across the world – and even here at home. We don’t have to travel far from our homes to see it in action.
But if we have learned anything from the last century, it is this – that change is possible. As Ann Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director points out:
Education is one key to better lives for girls, their families and their communities. Expert studies estimate that every extra year a girl spends in secondary education lifts her income by more than 15 per cent. Better educated girls have better employment and health prospects and, as they grow to womanhood, they pass these benefits to their children.
I have been a strong believer in the power of education for years. As a member of the board of Reading Partners, I see the benefits first hand. I see the benefits in my community, and as a business woman, in the intelligent, educated young women who are starting their careers. But most of all, I see the benefits that education brings these young girls and their families.
At Reading Partners, we see (on average) students jump an entire grade level in reading skills after only 30 hours of tutoring. The impact of this is immediate and lasting. It changes the students perspectives of themselves, and it changes that way that they relate to the world, their families and communities. It opens the door of opportunity, and it sets in train, a process of ongoing learning which benefits future generations (with mothers teaching and supporting the education of their children).
Programs like these exist all over the world. And somewhere, there is a young girl in need of a better education. She may be living in your neighborhood, or in a country on the other side of the planet. But if you can only do one thing this International Women’s Day – find a way to support a young girl’s education. The world will be a better place for it.
It seems that the global financial crisis is prompting a wide-ranging re-think on the role of women in leadership. The Shriver Report indicated that, in total, the US working populations are balancing out – with women now comprising 50% of the total for the first time ever. Yet, as Vivek Wadhwa points out, “There are too few women running high-tech companies; that’s too bad, considering evidence shows female-led businesses outperform those run by men.”
But rather than waiting for the structural impact of women’s workforce participation to take effect at senior levels, women are, instead, taking matters into their own hands. Support networks and groups are being formed such as Women 2.0, Young Women Social Entrepreneurs and the Blogher network – complete with mentoring opportunities, professional networking events and conferences – and all this effort is now beginning to bear fruit.
Research by Cindy Padnos, managing director of Illuminate Ventures, indicates that the performance of women in the enterprise – especially in startup businesses – has significant benefits. Not only are the high-tech companies that women build more capital-efficient than the norm (with higher revenues and less committed capital), there are fewer failures:
As the global economy regenerates, new business models are needed to stimulate economic and job growth. Investors seeking to reinvigorate bottom-line performance and to favorably impact the entrepreneurial strength of our economy would be wise to support strategies that enable high-tech start-ups that are inclusive of women entrepreneurs.
But what it the opportunity for leaders? First, we need to acknowledge that we are not facing a recession – but a reset (as John Hope Bryant suggests). Next we need to look to those women in our management ranks who are already leaders in their fields. We need to support them and mentor them in the way that the grass roots social networks are doing. And we need to actively plan for their success and succession.
Nina Nets It Out: The statistics are starting to tell the tale – but despite clear economic and professional benefit, there is still a dearth of senior roles available for women. Smart business leaders will proactively support the transition of women leaders into more senior roles – and those that do will reap the rewards.
Watching the way that NBC has been handling the Conan vs Leno debacle has me thinking … why do experienced leaders continue to make poor decisions when it comes to succession? Many organizations now have systems in place that help identify emerging leaders – the rock stars of our businesses – and opportunities and challenges are funnelled in their direction. With this comes responsibility, accountability – and hopefully mentoring and support. But all this is a two way street. If we expect accountability from our rising stars, we must also expect it of ourselves.
When we are thinking through succession plans – we need to consider not just who’s coming in, but what’s going out. That’s right – when a leader leaves, it marks the end of an era. She will take with her, her whole way of doing business – and the impact of this will be felt right through your business. Perhaps NBC weren’t ready to deal with this type of wholesale change – communicating the way in which this transition would be handled should have been clearer, unambiguous and ongoing. Communications around succession needs to be handled over several months, and in some cases, one to two years. After all, we all crave security.
Part of this stability comes from “doing what you say”. In NBC’s case, making an offer and then rescinding it has created confusion and uncertainty. Not only will this impact the financial performance of both shows (think of the advertisers and sponsors – or in your business, your various stakeholders), it also sends a morale breaking message to all your other up-and-coming leaders/stars. And when this happens, the talent that you have been nurturing for years looks not at your promises (which now seem empty) but at the rival offers which seem so unambiguous and full of opportunity.
Finally, remember that we are living much more public lives than ever before. You don’t need to be Conan O’Brien to publish your personal thoughts on your career. You don’t need to be NBC to create a news network. Facebook, blogs and even Twitter operate like 24 hour broadcast channels. So whenever you think “succession planning” also think “crisis management”. You may not need to activate your crisis plan – but you’ll be glad you have one if you need it.
Nina Nets It Out: The Conan vs Leno debacle has yielded some valuable lessons for leaders. As always, communication and clarity are imperative.
When you work for a consumer goods company – it’s easy to know who your customers are. They are the people who buy your product, right? But what if your business is selling to other businesses? What if you work in a multinational company? Who is the customer?
