Do you really know your Audience / Customer?
Many moons ago, in a training program, I had learnt the value of 3K's:
- Knowledge of your subject
- Knowledge of your tools
- Knowledge of your audience
It is the last rule that I have seen been followed the least, by most of us. On my part, I have tried to remember this in every possible interaction. I try to prepare myself for interviews, client conversations and even social meetings, by checking out profiles of whom I am due to meet.
A minor side note: In one of my previous roles, I observed that you need to be much better prepared and exceptionally well aware of your audience / customer if s/he / they were ex-employees of your organisation. They are almost "dangerous" in some ways. Keep this thought in your mind as I share an interesting perspective.
On a Consulting engagement, the power of this rule was thrown up to a completely new level. Here's a situation:
Ok. So you're a management consultant engaged by a client to execute a large scale program. You won this deal with an exceptional pitch about your firms rich experience and background relevant to the program, the kind of profiles your consultants have, the tools, etc. you will bring to the table, the differentiators and so on...
How much of this was really 100% true, only you and your firm would know. We all know that humans tend to over-stretch reality when the sales adrenalin is pumping and your bonus is dependent on Order Books.
So you won the deal and started the program. In all likelihood, you did not try enough to understand whom are you really selling to i.e. who's your audience or customer is really.
Bring in the side note I quoted above - surprise! Your customer representatives were "management consultants" before they joined your client firm. Now suddenly, your customer has become "dangerous".
The danger manifests itself soon enough.
After your consulting firm deploys a large team on site, the first salvo comes from the customer: "I want to interview your consultants to check for their skills / suitability!"
All your plans of using this engagement to teach and train inexperienced consultants just hit a bump. You plead - this is a fixed price deal, not a staff augmentation! We will deliver what we've promised to, whatever it takes us.
Nothing doing, my friendly Consultant, comes the reply. I cannot afford to become a training ground for your people and I want to see those profiles whom you promised in your pitch.
I bet your heart will miss more than a beat and perhaps some just avoided a heart attack.
A few weeks go by and you think that you've now hit a rhythm in your program execution. Then comes another volley: "Show me your resourcing bin. And No, I don't care that this is a fixed price deal".
Wow! Here you were, struggling with resourcing people. Here you were, somehow trying to hide that you still haven't placed all the resources you had committed and suddenly, you feel that someones stripping you of your pants.
Folks, by no means am I trying to put down the world of consulting. It is a wonderful industry for many, full of learning experiences and success stories. The message here is the critical need of that last "K" rule.
Wherever you work, whatever you do - do you "really" know who your customer / audience is?
- Knowledge of your subject
- Knowledge of your tools
- Knowledge of your audience
It is the last rule that I have seen been followed the least, by most of us. On my part, I have tried to remember this in every possible interaction. I try to prepare myself for interviews, client conversations and even social meetings, by checking out profiles of whom I am due to meet.
A minor side note: In one of my previous roles, I observed that you need to be much better prepared and exceptionally well aware of your audience / customer if s/he / they were ex-employees of your organisation. They are almost "dangerous" in some ways. Keep this thought in your mind as I share an interesting perspective.
On a Consulting engagement, the power of this rule was thrown up to a completely new level. Here's a situation:
Ok. So you're a management consultant engaged by a client to execute a large scale program. You won this deal with an exceptional pitch about your firms rich experience and background relevant to the program, the kind of profiles your consultants have, the tools, etc. you will bring to the table, the differentiators and so on...
How much of this was really 100% true, only you and your firm would know. We all know that humans tend to over-stretch reality when the sales adrenalin is pumping and your bonus is dependent on Order Books.
So you won the deal and started the program. In all likelihood, you did not try enough to understand whom are you really selling to i.e. who's your audience or customer is really.
Bring in the side note I quoted above - surprise! Your customer representatives were "management consultants" before they joined your client firm. Now suddenly, your customer has become "dangerous".
The danger manifests itself soon enough.
After your consulting firm deploys a large team on site, the first salvo comes from the customer: "I want to interview your consultants to check for their skills / suitability!"
All your plans of using this engagement to teach and train inexperienced consultants just hit a bump. You plead - this is a fixed price deal, not a staff augmentation! We will deliver what we've promised to, whatever it takes us.
Nothing doing, my friendly Consultant, comes the reply. I cannot afford to become a training ground for your people and I want to see those profiles whom you promised in your pitch.
I bet your heart will miss more than a beat and perhaps some just avoided a heart attack.
A few weeks go by and you think that you've now hit a rhythm in your program execution. Then comes another volley: "Show me your resourcing bin. And No, I don't care that this is a fixed price deal".
Wow! Here you were, struggling with resourcing people. Here you were, somehow trying to hide that you still haven't placed all the resources you had committed and suddenly, you feel that someones stripping you of your pants.
Folks, by no means am I trying to put down the world of consulting. It is a wonderful industry for many, full of learning experiences and success stories. The message here is the critical need of that last "K" rule.
Wherever you work, whatever you do - do you "really" know who your customer / audience is?
posted by Sandeep Gupta at
5:49 pm
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