Outside-in Marketing

I recently upgraded my main system to Windows 7, as my Vista system had grown unstable. To make a (very) long story short, the upgrade caused me to lose connectivity to Exchange, get an obscure error message in Outlook, and be left with no access to my clients through email.

I waded my way through the Microsoft Support IVR and ended up at Outlook Exchange support. I was greeted cordially by a gatekeeper who wanted to know my support contract number (don’t have one), and alternatively, my credit card information, so that they could bill me $275 for the incident, and then wait up to 8 hours for a support specialist to call me back. Huh? Wait! All of this happened because I upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 (which explicitly offered 90-days free tech support for upgrade issues). They were hearing nothing about that.

When I insisted on speaking with a supervisor and explained my growing frustration, he countered that as a corporate customer, without a support contract, I had to pay this amount and agree to the 8-hour turnaround. Wait! What? First, I’m not a corporate customer. I run a small business. I have no IT department. Second, had I not just purchased a bunch of Windows licenses, I would not have gotten into this mess.

What the support supervisor said to me really drove the point home about inside-out/outside-in thinking. Apparently, to Microsoft, I am a corporate customer – it doesn’t matter how I think about myself, or how my business is structured, how many employees I have, or even how I consume Microsoft products. Since I use Outlook and connect to Exchange (hosted, by the way), I am a corporate customer – end of discussion. Now, this is dangerous thinking. They have aligned their policies with what is convenient to them.  I have no doubt that their internal cost structure warrants this distinction. After all, a support specialist that understands the intricacies of the interaction between these two very complex pieces of software has got to be a lot more expensive than one who troubleshoots run-of-the-mill Outlook problems.

So, why is this dangerous? As a technology consumer I am presented with more choices almost every day. From open source solutions, to web-based solutions, to free products from companies like Google, there are no shortage of email options available to me. The same goes for Microsoft’s other mainstay products, the Office suite, and even Windows itself. If software companies align their sales methods, pricing, services and support with what is internally convenient, they are introducing friction to their interactions with customers and prospects. If, on the other hand, they align these processes with how their customers think and act, then they make transacting with them much more effortless. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter about who has the most features, the largest market share, or the coolest interface.  If I can’t do business with you in a way that works for me (and presuming I do have choices for sourcing), then I will weigh those choices.

Even with wrongheaded policies, Microsoft could have done the right thing by me. If the support supervisor was empowered to say “yes, I would be happy to help you, given your circumstances” instead of only being able to say “no, that is not possible” they likely would have created some brand allegiance or built some bonds with a customer. I’ve had this very thing happen with other consumer product companies – and I have remained loyal. Microsoft doesn’t get many opportunities to directly interact with their customers, and in this case, they squandered the opportunity – if anything, they’ve alienated me. As it stands, I will likely jump at the chance to move to the next shiny platform.  I am left with no brand loyalty.  And, I suspect I am not alone.

What have your experiences been with inside-out thinking?  How does it show up for you?  By the way, I did eventually solve the connectivity issue – on my own!

We are very excited to announce our new joint venture. One that we hope will change how you think about resources, sourcing, strategy development, marketing, business development and sales. For Yesh and me, this is a culmination of more than a decade of working together – building and growing successful companies.

For me personally, this is a significant milestone. When I made the choice to leave more traditional marketing leadership roles and hang out my shingle, I was more than a little skeptical of my long-term viability in this mode. However, I can now say, nearly 5 years and more than 40 clients later, that it was the right decision – bringing an outside perspective to customers is extremely satisfying work.

Initially, I thought – who in their right mind would trust product strategy to an outsider? Aren’t these the “crown jewels” of a company?  Isn’t this what the company founders see as their core competency?

As it turns out, I was asking the wrong question. What I have since discovered is that smart company founders and key executives MUST rely on outsiders for helping them develop their product strategies. One thing I learned by stepping away from my 10 years or so of leading marketing teams, is that companies create a view of the world – a set of operating principles that bring context to all of their decision making. This context shapes what is possible, and brings coherence to a complex marketplace and ecosystem. And, this reference point is reinforced with every strategic move and decision. In fact, in my view, the longer an executive has been with a company, the harder it is for them to discern (see: fish/water).

In Silicon Valley, this is often called “drinking the Kool-Aid.”  The challenge this presents, of course, is that prospects, customers, and partners all have their own contextual views that shape the world in which they live. In a business context, they don’t particularly care about others’ view.  They just want to get on with their own. That is where an outside perspective becomes invaluable.

As an outsider without day-to-day operational responsibilities, I can question assumptions, and examine what is taken as “given.” But, I can play more than the “devil’s advocate” game. Since I have perspective gained from working with dozens of companies, across many industries, I also bring a world view that is informed by people outside of my clients’ particular marketplace or ecosystem – perhaps opening the door to a breakthrough strategy that hasn’t yet been attempted in their industry.

Many smart executives recognize this challenge, and that why I am excited about this new venture. Yesh shares many of these same observations – as I have learned over the past decade of working with him. He is very good at translating these observations into effective strategies and programs with a focus on accessing new markets and new business development opportunities. In my view, this is a perfect complement to the product-focused positioning, messaging and strategy work that I have been doing for my clients over the past several years. By combining forces, we bring our clients pragmatic, value-based programs that connect to business objectives.

I look forward to sharing more lessons learned in the days and weeks to come.