"The customer that wasn't right", the Easter Bunny and other fictitious beings

Ever feel like you are the customer that is being ignored ?

Photo credit : anna_I_am

Today I had an opportunity to present at a customer briefing to the director of architecture for a prominent financial services company. My IT colleague and I presented for the better part of an hour while the account sales team for our company listened intently to topics being discussed. It was a great presentation because we were quickly able to identify the commonalities between our two companies - despite having very different lines of business. We intentionally introduced topics which might be provocative in order to see if there was a disagreement and in every case determined that we were united on our positions. We had common issues, common visions and common struggles to find technology and companies which understood us well enough to bring solutions to the table. Why was it that we both felt that our opinions aren't being listened to by our vendors?

Let's rewind 2 years ago to a systems management user-conference... Frustrated that our individual voices weren't being heard, 4 large enterprises collectively drafted a list of product feature & enhancement requests. We revisited the list with the vendor 6 months later and was met by "what list ?". 6 months later, - "Do you still have a copy of that list you can share with us ?" - We gave up, the new product is due this calendar year and nobody is holding their breath.

Wanting to understand this phenomenon deeper, I recently asked the CTO of a small but rapidly growing software company this question: 'How much time do you spend reacting to vs. anticipating customer demand ?' - His answer was that hiring a director of engineering is going to let him focus more of his attention towards anticipating what customers needs are. That was the answer I suppose that I wanted to hear, but it created another question - who then is reacting to customer demand ?

I guess I've become jaded, I feel like only a startup which is barely profitable and that is so dependent on their customers that they are forced to listen will believe that the customer is ever right. When a company gets to the point of having enough resources that losing a major customer is acceptable, and when a customer is viewed as a necessary evil as opposed to your lifeline - they have turned the corner to typical big-company arrogance where they think they know what is best for the rest of us.

Does Apple listen to their customers ? Jobs clearly believes that he knows what's best for all of us, and we line up quickly to receive whatever it is that he's decided for us. Does Microsoft listen to their customers ? - They listen and use that information so that they can do the exact opposite.

There are lots of customers willing to tell your company what it is they want, what they need and what they are willing to pay for. - Take the time to listen, chances are - they are right.