Customer research

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As part of our preparation for lauching Roadmap to Revenue, we just created three new videos. I wanted to share them with you.

Now that I am comfortable talking to a camera lens, I am eager to do more. All sorts of topics keep popping into my head. Let me know if you would like me to address anything specific. I hope you find them helpful.

The Truth About Your Brand

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We are smack dab in the middle of a terrible dilemma. The entire marketing and selling world is "betwixt and between." Traditional marketing and selling methods are not working the way they used to, and social media is not the end-all answer, either. In spite of the hype level and some people who are actually making it work, it's just a hint at the answer. But it isn't THE answer.

There is an answer, fortunately, but first let's look at the crisis itself.

This is a serious crisis because it's a perfect storm; five forces coming together at once, each powerful on its own.

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It's a moonlit night in the Atlantic, as we come to the final leg of our 8000-mile sail home from South Africa. As I look up at the top of the mast, I see a wind indicator there, an illuminated arrow that shows where the "apparent" wind is coming from ("apparent" wind is the wind created by a combination of the actual wind blowing over the water, and the boat's speed through the water). As I do, my brain naturally shifts to business indicators - and how easily we are misled when we pay attention to the wrong ones.

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I'm in a country at the moment where there is a very large divide between "the rich" and "the poor." The unemployment rate is estimated to be at 40%. Yet, in many areas, the malls are packed, and hotel suites in the city near the water go for $1500 a night. [Note to readers - after getting quite a bit of response on this point - I am NOT talking about the United States. I'm about 8,000 miles from the U.S. at the moment. - kz]

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Personas do have their place. When you're designing a product, you have to make decisions about what to put in and what to leave out. Personas can help with that process.

But once the product is designed, and it's time to create your web page, write selling copy, and train your salespeople, personas can get you into real trouble. They can make you think you're addressing the buyer properly, when in fact you are probably ignoring who the buyer is, what the buyer really wants, and, in many cases, insulting the buyer.