Archive for Working with Customers
Case Study: The Zhivago Method | SixEstate
Posted by: | CommentsZhivago’s main principle is deceptively simple: If you want to know how to increase sales, ask your customers.There is a whole philosophy twisted up inside that sentence. Notice that you don’t ask your employees, as some suggest, because they’re usually not your biggest customers. You don’t ask suppliers. You don’t ask the Internet. You don’t implement some plan you read about in a book or online — unless it’s based on first asking the customer.
via Case Study: The Zhivago Method | SixEstate.
Nothing beats a direct interaction with a customer. Why do marketers loathe talking to the market? Follow Zhivago’s (and pmiPragmatic Marketing’s) method instead.
Recently I managed to get out for a few days to meet with some customers. I talk to customers every month, but the vast majority of those discussions are by phone/webinar. And while a fair number of those calls are informative, it’s easy to forget what you lose in a conversation, when the other person (or people) are simply disembodied voices traveling across the phone line.
via Can anything really replace a good face-to-face customer meeting? — On Product Management.
It’s rather amazing the difference in the information transfer found in a face-to-face meeting over a phone call. I find that in-person interviews go deeper than the surface issues uncovered during a phone call. Maybe it’s just easier to be open and honest with someone when you’re in the same room.
Or maybe as Saeed explains, “We are social creatures, but the huge irony of communication technology, and “social media” is that they claim to increase ‘connection’ and ‘engagement’ while simultaneously minimizing human contact.”
Sarela Bliman-Cohen writes,
Many of my fellow product management practitioners are often placed in a difficult situation where customers request certain features for their products, but the product manager’s hands are tied. It’s not that they don’t care about the voice of their customers, rather management’s vision is different. On one hand, senior management makes promises to Wall St. or the investors, which appeases the company’s shareholders, but neglects the opinion of the customers. How does a product manager ensure that s/he does not lose sight of the customers?
Read more in The fine line between appeasing your shareholders vs. your customers – Product Management and Strategic Marketing.
Web Ink Now: You have been hacked
Posted by: | CommentsLast week while I was in Stockholm for a speaking gig, my friend Steve Johnson sent me an email with the subject line: “Have you been hacked?”
In his email to me, Steve kindly shared a screen grab of a nasty message that popped up when he tried to visit my site. He also pointed me to a Google diagnostics tool that contained all sorts of very bad news.
Yikes!
It looked bad indeed.
via Web Ink Now: You have been hacked.
Glad to help, David!
Read the full post for how this resolved. And now ask yourself: Would your company respond as quickly?
What’s your most important sales tool when selling something complex? | Revenue Journal
Posted by: | CommentsAnd there is no question in my mind now that THE most important sales tool is something that isn’t even on the radar of most marketers: the product manual.
via What’s your most important sales tool when selling something complex? | Revenue Journal.
Back in the day, there used to be two manuals for every complex product: a user guide that explained the most common use scenarios and a system guide explaining every function and feature. And Kristin is right: these were also great sales tools that got past the promises of the sales and marketing teams and got to the meat of the product.
Product manuals are a great sales tool. It shows that your product is deep, simple to implement (or not), and explains clearly how the product can be used to solve the business problem.
Do you have product manuals? Do you use them in selling? Do you make them available before purchase so people can “go deep” on your product? Read Kristin’s article for more.
