My friend and colleague, Corey Smith, just asked a question, “Who is your audience?”

He just launched a new service for printer and copier dealers over at Copier Catalog, which promises to be a very sound set of services offered to the independent dealer channel. He is evidently offering a blog there as well, which I don’t know how he finds time to write for all of his interests (good on you, sir).

Corey goes on to ask if businesses, in general, know who their audience is when designing their content and websites, offering this sound advice:

1. Use no jargon.
2. You need the sale more than your customer does.
3. Your clients aren’t interested in what you are interested in.
4. Your content alone won’t drive traffic.
5. Your clients don’t know all about what you sell.

This extends beyond the content on a website and into the field… sales reps in many industries, and specifically in hardware and software businesses, don’t get my needs as their potential customer, as a general rule.

It’s rather frustrating having to either spell out my needs “Barney-style” (that’s the purple, kid-friendly, dinosaur folks), or be told what they think I need…

I used to be a client of my company before I came to work in my present position at Kearns Business Solutions, and do you know why they won my business and I became their champion in my organization?

1. My account manager listened to my needs and asked questions to understand them.
2. My account manager had a plan - a strategy with stops along the way to rest.
3. My account manager talked about things me and my company wanted to hear.

Folks, I knew my account manager had products and services to sell, that’s why I asked them to come in and talk with me. The difference though is that even though I was there to be sold to, I wasn’t there to be “told to”.

I came to work at Kearns almost five years ago for one solid reason - I wanted to be part of an organization that cared that much about its customers.

Don’t come in and try to sell me on something when you don’t care about my needs or don’t understand my needs. I’m the one that is doing the story telling… I’m the customer… Help me buy something by showing you care about where I’m going.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

Justin Foster posted a great article on change over at his blog, BrandMilitia, entitled ‘The Bubble‘. This is a great commentary on how we all tend to become myopic in our focus in life.

You have to get out of your bubble to see and embrace change.  This is true with people and companies.  Seth Godin refers to it as the fundamentalist v. the curious. 

Too many people involved in marketing live in a bubble where they have no one challenging them; no one introducing new ideas.  Everyone is sniffing their own fumes … and either getting high or suffocating. 

Marketing use to be the realm of curiosity, but too many people are simply playing it safe.  They are trading a false sense of control for the reality that their brand belongs to the customer.

The bubble gives you false data; unrealistic viewpoints.

In the bubble, your shiny new TV ad sounds and looks great.  In reality, nobody saw it.

In the bubble, your brochures perfectly outline your value proposition.  In reality, nobody read it.

In the bubble, your employees have memorized your mission statement.  In reality, nobody cares.

So … get out of the bubble.  Listen to your people and your customers.  In fact, don’t get out of the bubble, break it so that no one else is in it.  The worse thing to do?  Paint the inside of the bubble so that you can’t see out.  Then you are in a shell …

Justin has been posting some really thought provoking articles. You should be sure to check out his blog. His link is included above and in the sidebar.

Change can be a tough thing. At times, to many of the associates in a company, a change may seem like another round in a Chinese fire drill. I would submit that some probably don’t look for answers, but I can’t solely rest blame elsewhere, when in point of fact, I am just as a guilty in maybe not communicating well enough.

While I may internally debate whether I have improved upon my communication skills to a point where changes make more sense, I ultimately still believe most individuals don’t care for any kind of change, and maybe not even positive change at times. Those that do embrace change are most likely reading this blog.

While this perspective may seem a bit, well glass-half-empty, it does offer opportunity to take a moment and reflect upon what I, as a manager, can offer to hopefully ease some of the stress in the change.

First, everything roots back to having the right people in the right seats on the bus - AND - getting the wrong people off the bus (as Jim Collins would say). If you have not done this, and know this to be true in your “gut”, do not pass “GO” and do not collect $200 - go directly to jail until you figure this part out.

Second, assuming you are redirecting a team of great individuals - my job is to not screw the good stuff up. This means I can’t just go in swingin’ and hope to hit something. I have to be able to take some measure of where the team is at in relation to objectives and customer perception.

You get this from listening: Listening to your team, listening to other teams, and listening to your customers. Part of listening comes in knowing when to put on the filter and when to hear the unabashed truth.

Once I know where I am at, I paint a vision. Once the team mostly understands this vision, I execute a phased approach. Remember, the team doesn’t get paid to fully embrace your vision. You get paid to teach them how to help you paint it - and sometimes it requires blind faith. This, incidentally, requires having the right people in the right seats on the bus - AND - getting the wrong people off the bus (did I say that already?).

Finally, I build for flexibility and consistent efficiency.

My team must understand change is the name of the game. Processes do help in offering some sanity, but will only succeed if we stay focused on why the process is used. We don’t want mindless robots following rules. We want thinking individuals making smart, customer-minded moves to secure the best outcome possible - in the most efficient manner possible.

In summary, here are the keys to managing change:

1. Have the right team.

2. Learn from the good stuff.

3. Listen

4. Paint a vision and refer to it often.

5. Build for flexibility and consistent efficiency.

In following these few steps, which aren’t easy at all to follow sometimes, you will succeed in building a high-quality, high-capacity team.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

In today’s rapidly moving world, savvy businesses rely on every business unit to ‘play the game’. Each business unit must understand its function as part of the whole much like an arm, a lung, or a brain plays its role to help the body function.

IT is no different, and must not only understand the business goals, but actively pursue bringing value to the business. To do so, technology leaders must 1) align themselves with business units, 2) listen and don’t be defensive, 3)innovate, 4) and offer customers choices not obstacles.

Align:

Technology leaders find themselves working with and for more tech savvy CXO’s and business unit leaders. The landscape has shifted and executives expect delivery of results not excuses. By aligning yourself with your business units’ initiatives you have the best chance of understanding the drivers that make your company successful. This will give you a chance to bring technology to bear in order to help solve the problems and avoid becoming an obstacle contributing to why a business unit can’t achieve its goals.

Listen:

Know you culture. IT must learn not only to listen, but to whom it must listen. Don’t get defensive when confronted with problems and don’t accuse them of whining. You must learn to be direct but professional and encourage your customers on how to approach you professionally. Even if someone seems to be attacking your personally, you must maintain a level of control. Remember who your customers are, and what the business priorities are. But most importantly ensure your customers understand the priorities you have and where their priorities fall in relation to your overall strategic goals.

Innovate:

Innovation is not only coming up with good ideas yourself, but understanding good ideas flow in and throughout the people in your company everyday. Ensure you are seeking out advice from not only business unit leaders, but people on the front line as well. In seeking mind share, individuals will begin seeing that you care about their needs and aren’t just making decisions in your ‘ivory tower’.

Choice:

Give your customers choices not obstacles. IT has been stereotyped as the constant nay-sayer. It is important that your customers understand why somethings can and cannot be done. Give them choices, and put the decisions in their hands. You may find they begin helping you achieve your goals if they align with their own. Once they begin walking in your shoes, they may just take a step back.

It is also important to understand that you should not place artificial obstacles in your customers’ or business unit leaders’ path as the daily business will present enough of these. It is not enough to have a reason why something cannot be done - have alternative solutions to the problem and you will find this wins you a great deal of political capital.

In summary, gone are the days where IT could hide behind the mystique of technology. Executives and customers alike are more technology savvy than ever and can see through your ruse. You must seek to align yourself with your company’s business units by building relationship and listening to their needs as well as understanding their challenges. Last, continually look for ways to innovate, and don’t allow yourself or your team to become stagnant.

If you are following these goals, you will most likely find frustration in bumping against glass ceilings. To be successful you must persevere adversity by staying focused on the goals. Success does not come from being the almighty gatekeeper but in seeking to build bridges to cross the canyons of adversity as a team.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.