UPDATED 17:00 EDT / AUGUST 12 2013

No Original Ideas : Changing Tactics + Products for Mobile Era

Ask and listen. These are the two most important transitive verbs in any successful interaction with a customer. It’s so simple, yet so often forgotten.   Some of the most successful sales professionals lose their way because they forget to ask and listen.  They are confident in their market knowledge.  They have a full understanding of their company’s products and services.  They know the pitch.  All they need to do is to turn on the fire hose and let the customer drink.

This mistake is not mutually exclusive to the experienced sales professional.   This contagion often spreads to R&D organizations, product development groups, marketing teams and even the board room.   Internal echo chambers are formed in organizations of all sizes that lead many times to a group myopia.

I often joke that we at TalkPoint have never had an original idea.  Our customers tell us what they want, and we then develop a set of products and services that meet their requirements.  This is all done within the scope of our core competencies and is tied to the strategic direction of the company.  The art is discerning between what they want and what they will actually buy.  They want everything, but they are only willing to pay for some things.  Only focus on that for which they are willing to pay and you have yourself a successful business model.  Ask, listen and then execute.   Sounds simple, right?

For the most part, we practice what we preach at TalkPoint.  This may sound ridiculous, but several years ago, I thought the iPad was going to be an entertainment and gaming device, not a business tool.  However, one of our largest pharmaceutical clients informed us that they were rolling out iPads to their 2,300-person sales force.  The client just assumed our webcasting technology would work on the iPad (it didn’t).  Fortunately, some of the folks in our company were asking and listening, and they knew TalkPoint needed a mobile strategy because our customers had one. They took it upon themselves to put baseline plans in place for just such an occurrence.  The upshot is that we were able to rally and allocate resources to take immediate action to satisfy our customer’s requirements.  Although I went astray, the people in our organization stayed the course.  Hey, everyone gets a mulligan!

This is a very simple example of how easily companies can lose their way.  With larger organizations, this becomes more prevalent, and it is much harder to correct.  There is an inverse relationship between the size of a company and the voice of its customers.  The exceptions to this rule are typically the most successful.  Customer voice drives innovation. Innovation creates internal competition and empowers the best and brightest employees.   It limits the power of the echo chamber.

Staying on track, even when that means changing directions

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Therefore, it’s important to stay up-to-date with client activities and programming even if you think some items might not directly impact your client relationship. The more knowledge you have about your client, the better. Ask your customers questions like:

  • What initiatives is your business rolling out in the next month? Quarter? Year?

  • What features and functions, if incorporated into our technology, will be future-proof based on macro-technology trends?

  • What are the business goals of your clients?

Giving your customers a voice also includes making it easy for people to do business with you.   This is the third leg of the “ask, listen and execute” stool.  We all have decided to buy a product or service and have been frustrated with the provider’s initial execution, including complex ordering processes, complicated forms, legal requirements and disclaimers, etc.  We want to spend our money, and it seems as if they are inventing ways of preventing us from doing so.  Successful companies make it easy for people to do business with them.  They create an environment where exiting clients not only have a voice, but their prospective clients have a voice as well. They operate the way their prospects operate.

Mobile technology and social media is a perfect example of this.   Prospective customers are hopefully soon-to-be customers.  The objective is to make it easy for them to make that transition. Today, people cutting across most demographics are comfortable with mobile technology and social media.  If your target clients are currently comfortable using these technologies, shouldn’t you be comfortable as well?   Don’t try to reinvent an onboarding process for prospects and clients. Use the technologies they use. Once again, no original ideas.

Over the years, I have learned that customers are not shy. They will tell you exactly what they require.    It is often easier to ask, listen and execute, than it is to invent and reinvent.   Keep it simple at every level.  If you focus on the before and during as it relates to customers, there won’t be an after.

About the Author

Nick is CEO of TalkPoint, an industry leader in global communications technology. With more than 25 years of experience in media and technology, he is a pioneer in the field of unified communications and interactive webcasting. Nick launched his first company – Voyager Data Networks – in 1996 and sold it two years later, at which time he had the foresight to invest in the burgeoning field of streaming media.

In 1998, he founded TalkPoint’s predecessor — NextVenue — as an offshoot of CNBC/Dow Jones Desktop Video, a joint venture among Microsoft, NBC and Dow Jones. Here he led its global expansion and merger into streaming media company iBeam Broadcasting. At iBeam, he served as president of enterprise services and was a member of the board before buying back the company, now known as TalkPoint, in 2003.

Nick holds an MBA from Rutgers Graduate School of Management and regularly competes in triathlons across the country.


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