An ‘Aha!’ Moment
My memory is clear about when I first understood the importance of solving a real problem for a customer. I was working with a team of high-performing managers and contributors on an initiative to find new ways to differentiate a plastic material sold in bulk. We had been meeting face-to-face with a series of customers to learn about how they were using the product. During a debrief one morning back at the office, Bob — a senior logistics manager and gruff sort of gentleman — was going about business as usual. He projected that he’d pretty much seen it all and wasn’t expecting to get much out of this whole exercise. Then, he turned in his chair away from the white board to face the rest of the group. With a surprised look on his face he remarked “Wow I think we can really help these guys … this is going to be great!”
Bob was not a marketing or sales guy focused on winning the next contract. He was an operations guy with a ton of credibility who had just spent several days with his counterparts at various customers’ sites listening and learning about their own operations processes. What was powerful about Bob’s statement is that it came from the one of just a few people in the company who absolutely knew how to implement a process change that would deliver a new kind of benefit to the customer. And as an operations guy he knew how valuable this would be to the customer in terms of eliminating work steps, reducing inventory and improving quality of the customer’s operation.
Bob’s comment represented a turning point for the team. Attitudes changed and the conversation shifted toward what could be done to improve the value delivered to the customer, and away from a preoccupation with cost reduction and pricing strategies as the path toward profitable growth. Team members also began to walk a little taller and have more fun. They began looking for other opportunities like this one, and became more confident and creative in the ideas and concepts that they put on the table.
Although I didn’t realize it at the time, what I observed was a transformation of beliefs about what was possible for the business. When people understand that they can improve the value that they can deliver to customers, in effect making them more effective and viable in their industries, that’s a big deal. That affects how people feel about themselves. It’s not just about the money.
This discovery was amazing to me, and set me on a path to help more companies and people experience that same kind of change. And that’s how I got where I am today launching this new venture.
There’s more to follow and I’m truly excited about it. So please stay tuned.