Path backwards

Backwards-engineering product development, marketing and sales, from the customer perspective saves countless time and money.

I got the message today to take an alternate route on my walk in the woods. I felt the resistance at first, “No, I like my route, its comfortable, I know it!”

“Oh, just try it”, I heard another voice in my head say. So I took my usual route, but backwards. I soon understood why I had received the message. I immediately began to see things from a new perspective, like the beautiful view of the path (attached picture). I had never seen it from this direction before. It looked so different. It appeared greener, more lush, more inviting.

I realized that the message was about my business. I needed to look at my work from the end-client perspective. I had become so focused on the programs I had developed that I was starting to lose sight of the needs and challenges of my potential clients. A classic marketing mistake!

Something I learned early on in my career was called, “Listener Train of Thought”, which means to speak from the listener’s point of view, rather than your own perspective. In other words, always keep in mind what the listener, or your clients, want and need, rather than what you want to tell or sell them.

Even big businesses get caught doing this. They sell products that their company makes rather than solutions that help solve customer needs. They list services on their website rather than complete programs and packaged solutions that help solve a need. They lose market-share taking their eye off their brands and focusing on themselves and their shareholders.

When we think from our own company’s perspective, our own needs and wants, we lose sight of the end game, the customer. Conversely, by focusing on our clients and addressing their needs, concerns and questions, we essentially backwards-engineer our product development process, marketing and sales. This is a much more efficient and effective approach, saving countless time and money.

Think back to the early 2000’s…what approach did Apple take when developing the first smart mobile devices and which approach was Microsoft still using? Focusing on the end-consumer perspective can take more time and effort in the short term, but history has proven over and over again that it’s more successful in the long run.