Customer Centricity = Shareholder Value

Being focused on and caring about your customers is not just about the warm and fuzzy. (See my prior post: What's So Salesy 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding.)

A little experiment I ran shows some definite indications of that. Now, I am nobody's data analyst, I don't even play one on TV. I do know when numbers tell a story however. I also am a big believer in the power of words.

So, I wondered, if a company is really focused on its customers, that would show in the words of its top executives. And if it showed in the words of its executives, would that have any correlation to a company's performance?

In order to do a controlled experiment, I chose the following, using a client as a baseline.

Words:

How regularly did the executives of public companies use the word customer in their latest earnings release call with the street? This is expressed as occurrences of "customer" vs total words in the call. The comparison is off of my client's baseline. So, for instance, Comp 5's execs used "customer" 126% more often than my client, and Comp 1's used it about 1/3 less.

As another comparison, I compared how often the execs used the word "account" (controlled for versions such as accounting, etc) vs using the word "customer". Comp 1's execs used "account" the most. Three companies' execs only used the word customer...not account.

Performance:

Set against the words analysis, is the 6 month stock performance of the companies. Also, several market indexes are included for comparison.

As you can see, there is a fairly clear correlation.

Is this the do-all end-all of analyses? No.

Is there enough here to warrant looking further into it? Yes.

Has anyone done any research that contradicts this? Not yet!

Yes, Hope Is a Strategy...and a Good One Too...

A common phrase bandied about by sales leaders, as well as the title of a best-seller on large account management, is "Hope Is Not A Strategy."

That's wrong though. Hope is a bad tactic. It's a great strategy, when properly executed by visionary leaders.

The first definition for the noun "hope" that popped up for me online was: "A desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment."

To have Hope be an effective strategy, there are two foundational requirements:

Desire: Has to be to reach an achievable goal, even if it is tough...super stretch. It also has to be authentically communicated to the team.

Confident expectation: This only happens if you've already put in the time to build the team, tools, and pipeline to execute against the desire.

So is Hope A Strategy? Absolutely...if you've built the foundation to make it so!

Ship the Copier. But Have a Scorch Protector!

Was amazed to read this article about the original Xerox machine. http://bit.ly/hGUFdI

It was a stunning achievement in 1959, yet had such a tendency to...burst into flames...that it came with a "scorch protector"...otherwise know as a fire extuingisher.

Some would take a dim view of such a risky approach, but what a great corrolary to innovation in the workplace.

Many leaders have groundbreaking ideas that would benefit their orgs right now if they "shipped" them to use Seth Godin's term. Yet their hope for the benefits is outweighed by fear of "fires" that may flare if it isn't perfected.

I say go now, ship the copier.

But have a scorch protector!

No Plan...Just Bigger Guns...

Was watching television the other day when some mindless preview from some inane movie hit the screen. I have no idea what the movie was or who the characters were.

What did stick with me was when one character asked another what the plan was, the answer was as noted above...

"There is no plan, just bigger guns."

Tricendent is in the business of enabling sales organizations, and most orgs are beefing up their sales organizations to take advantage of the upturn. Not a bad idea. However, just throwing volumes of people at a market does not mean success.

Such a (non) plan may mean spending more money on ammunition, but not hitting any more targets.

Have a plan.

What's so Salesy 'Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?

Apologies to Elvis Costello for hijacking and twisting the title of his 1979 classic. (Actually, apologies should go to Nick Lowe of Cruel To Be Kind fame since he wrote it in 1974...but it's likely the 1979 version running through your head now...)

Woke up with this song in my head. Also woke up to over $4 Billion in budget cuts being contemplated by the legislature here in Washington State...with much of the pain coming from education cuts.

As noted in earlier posts, I work with one of my technology clients on their go-to-market and execution for Public Sector sales. The Washington budget refrain noted above is being played out by state and local governments around the country. It's in such an environment that the following lyrical refrain from the title song of this post comes to mind...

So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?

Like never before, sellers in public sector especially, but across all segments are going to need...

Strong value propositions based on business outcomes.
Trusted relationships with multiple decision makers within an account.
Complete harmony with Customer Care-Abouts.

Peace, Love, and Understanding might not seem so "Salesy", but smart sellers will learn and effect these tenets.

5 Stars x 9? Really?

I am a huge fan of user reviews in general. Yelp, for instance, insures I almost never have a bad meal when eating out.

I am also a huge fan of the reader reviews on Amazon. And today, I saw something there I have never seen.

Once a book has more than 10 reviews, it's rare that it will retain 5 stars. It happens, but not that often. Take a look at some of the best books out there in your opinion, and you'll see what I mean.

I heard about a customer-centric B2B sales book called Slow Down, Sell Faster by Kevin Davis. I went to Amazon, and was impressed to see that it had 23 reviews...and 5 stars. Then I saw something that really surprised me.

As I scrolled down, I saw the section of the page where Amazon lists the 8 books also purchased by people who bought this one. Every one of them were on sales...and every one of them had 5 stars too!

Pretty sure I had never seen this before, I tested this theory by looking at 20 of my favorites. Just as I suspected. Not even close.

So what's the source of this irrational exuberance over all these books on sales? Could it be that sellers themselves are easily sold on the latest and greatest sales "secret sauce"?

Maybe if you want to sell more...you should sell sales books!

Stumbling vs Strategic

In one of the more unique stories about the effect of the extensive budget cuts that are going on in schools nationwide, I discovered a principal in California who is selling her shoe collection to raise funds for her school.

It's actually touching to see the commitment of this professional that you can read about here... http://bit.ly/fiExUL

Beyond that, this school district is an account of a large company for which I am consulting on their sales execution. I pinged the account manager covering the district to get his thoughts on the scenario. It is a passion of mine and an approach of my firm to instill a strong sense of customer empathy with our clients, and it's difficult not to feel that for professional educators like the principal in this scenario.

When the AM got back to me, he asked me where I "stumbled across" this info. I thought that was an interesting question, since, I didn't stumble across it at all. It came through someone that is focused on the kind of markets that my client serves, that I strategically follow on Twitter to receive just this kind of information.

This isn't an indictment of the AM's question, but it is an opportunity for you to consider how you are using all the incredible technology out there to learn about...and to connect on a deeper level with...your customers.

Don't stumble...be strategic.