Month: October 2017

The 5 “Ss” Marketers Want from Vendors

We’ve tried surveys, but they say one thing and then do another. One on one sessions, yep, tried those as well. How do we really know what our clients want?  Over the last few months, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with close to fifty marketers, friends, clients and former colleagues. I didn’t have an agenda or a pitch, just a conversation about their career path and how they decided on their professions.

The conversation eventually made its way into a discussion of relationships they had with various consultants, advisors, and agencies.  Just for kicks, I built a word cloud from my notes and saw five themes emerged around what they wanted from a vendor — I call it the five “S’s”.

  1. Smarts – this was a common theme — “I don’t want to have to explain my business to the vendors that I work with. They need to do their homework.” Almost every conversation had an element of the client wanting vendors to be up to speed when the engagement started. Time is money and clients don’t have the time (especially on their dime) to get you up to speed. And, for big consulting firms and agencies, don’t get comfortable with thinking you have a lock on all the brightest folks. They use plenty of very smart individual contractors. Many of them, just came from your world.
  2. Skills – similar to the above comment, clients want to work with agencies and consultants that have the skill sets that they can’t find, hire or retain. This was especially important when it came to digital talent. They have made investments in MarTech but are having a hard time finding the talent to optimize, or even operate, the technology…and it is becoming more difficult.
  3. Speed – “I need the vendors I hire to operate at the speed of my business,” said the CMO of a Fortune 50 hi-tech firm and others echoed her comment. There were also comments related to responsiveness. If you’re standard policy is to respond to a clients’ email within 48 hours, you’re about 40 hours off on their expectations. Being more responsive can buy you time on deliverables. Clients want to know, or at least feel, like you’re making progress on their effort. Gaps in communication create the risk of your client feeling like they are not getting the attention they deserve or pay for…and they know when you’re stretched too thin.
  4. Simple – combine Smarts with Speed and you get Simple or at least that is what the client would love. They want to be able to understand your recommendations so they know exactly what decisions, or action, to immediately execute. Consultants — they are tired of the upsell, where one problem suddenly surfaces another problem, especially when they haven’t received the output of the first project. Agencies — the more complexity you add to a campaign the longer clients believe it will take to execute. Smart, valued vendors take complex problems and make them simple to understand and resolve. They know they have other issues they just need to address the problem in front of them.
  5. Spirit – this one surprised me and took some time to understand. The core of this theme was rooted in marketers stating that they wanted to work with vendors who were “enthusiastic” about their business, or “passionate” about their own jobs/role. They want a partner who brings some fun and/or passion that may be lacking in their organization. If you are pitching an idea an important part of the “sell” job is how you deliver it. If you’re not excited about it, they won’t be either. The last thing you want is a client who doesn’t want to talk to you because they know it won’t be enjoyable…they have plenty of those meetings internally. Be their break in the day, the good news, the breath of fresh air they so desperately need…especially at the end of the day or week.

Surprisingly, I didn’t hear cheaper. Don’t misunderstand, they want value and recognize that to get it they have to make the investment. Now that you know what they really want that shouldn’t be a problem to deliver, be the bright spot in their day.

Running Uphills

Something odd happened the other day on my morning run. Deciding to ramp up my training, I grabbed my Garmin GPS watch and headed out. The goal was to track my pace at various points on my usual route and that’s when I noticed a strange trend. At first, I thought my watch needed a software update because something really unusual was happening.

According to my watch, my pace running uphill was faster than when running downhill or on a flat stretch. Spending the remaining part of my route trying to figure why my natural pace didn’t fit the norm, I concluded that it was most likely the result of growing up at the bottom of a mountain. All of the excitement in the neighborhood was always happening at the top. During the summer, I’d run or ride my bike a mile and a half up a steady incline as fast as I could to get to the action — often several times a day. Going uphill, for me, always had its reward.

These last few months I’ve been on a personal journey searching for “what’s next.” I have spent a great deal of time speaking with former clients, colleagues, and friends. Our conversations focused on learning about their career paths. We talked about turning points, dead ends, and U-turns along their journeys. It was incredibly enlightening and helpful. Surprisingly, I also learned something else…

The people I spoke with, although mostly satisfied with their current status, longed for something better. When I explored “better” several themes were reoccurring; a better work/life balance, greater purpose in their work, freedom to work on things they were passionate about, etc. Interestingly, it was not isolated to one workforce generation, i.e. Millennials. Then I had a thought… do companies realize that there has been a change in the way people want to work? And, it seems to be universal. I heard the feedback, but had they recognized or responded to this shift?

Running parallel to this exploration, a couple of former clients approached me to do some consulting work. The companies we worked with had products and/or services that were considered to be “disruptive innovation.” There is a certain element of a “fear factor” to this new wave of technology, in particular, AI and robotics. The reality is they also have the opportunity to dramatically improve people’s lives. Unfortunately, that message hasn’t been well communicated, or received. One thing is certain, though, the last wave of technology was about business model disruption (think Netflix, Uber, AirBnB, etc.). The new wave is about personal disruption, for better or worse, depending on your viewpoint.

Similarly, my own journey came to the crossroads of personal disruption and a longing for something better. It got me thinking. Could an organization aimed at helping companies bring life-changing innovation to market be built on a business model that changed the life of the people it employed? From disruption, could something better be created? After circling back to many of the people I spoke with earlier, I concluded that it most definitely could.

And so, at this point in my life and career, when I wish I was better at coasting on flats or running downhill — I’ve picked another hill to run up. The grind, unfortunately, seems to suit me. Leaning into the incline gives me a feeling of purpose. The pounding heart and aching legs focus my mind, challenges my body and gives me a sense of accomplishment and clarity.

I also recognize (sadly) that I’m not as young as I once was, and to be successful in this new venture I will need the boost of friends and family to make it up the hill. I may not be able to run it as often, or as fast, so I’ll also need others to take the journey with me. I know the excitement is still at the top and getting there, although challenging, definitely has its rewards.

My life has and will continue to be disrupted, but I see something better coming…and so will you soon.

Follow the Carbon Design Co LinkedIn page to watch the journey to the top.