這些危險錯誤，許多領導者都有可能犯
Fayez Moamood
2019-02-28
Bluecore的聯合創始人及首席執行官法耶茲·默罕默德。圖片來源：Courtesy of Bluecore
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企業家內部網絡是一個在線社區，美國創業公司中最有思想、最具影響力的商界人士將在此回答關于企業家與職業生涯的問題。今天我們的問題是：“在開公司之前，你希望自己了解哪些事情？”回答者是Bluecore公司的聯合創始人及首席執行官法耶茲·默罕默德。 一些企業家認為，應對難纏的客戶耗時太多。他們會錯誤地應用80-20法則，試圖拋下給他們帶來80%麻煩的20%顧客。這是個巨大的誤區。我希望當時在建立Bluecore之前，自己能夠知道：那些最具懷疑精神、要求最苛刻的客戶將成為我們最佳的擁護者。 那些喜歡聽好話的企業家可能難以理解這種對難纏客戶的贊美。在創業之初，尋找認同的感覺很棒，對吧？你吸引了一些潛在客戶，他們說：“啊，這個點子真不錯！”你想要忘掉那些唱反調的人，因為你必須走上正軌。不過糟糕的是，那些光說好話的顧客不會在六個月以后購買你的產品。他們只是表現得很友善，就像卡羅爾嬸嬸說的：“寶貝，我喜歡你這個創業公司的想法！不過還想來些蛋酒嗎？” 在2013年建立Bluecore平臺之前，我有幸與一位被稱作“杰克”的數字營銷商見過一面。他為一家戶外零售商工作，見我是因為他對觸發式郵件技術很有想法。我介紹了一下我們的計劃。杰克大致的意思是，想法很棒，但我們還得另外開發兩個核心功能，他才會購買我們的產品。 四個月后，我帶著我們的完成品再去找杰克，它仍然不夠好。杰克提出了更多要求。與此同時，我們與第一批10名客戶簽約了。我想：“他們都喜歡這個產品，我還需要去迎合杰克的需求嗎？” 我十分看重杰克的想法，以至于無法忽略它。他的要求很高，想法也很獨特。我們持續為杰克的想法完善產品，最終讓他成為了我們的客戶。他迫使我們做出了一款比原來好得多的產品。 這段經歷讓我意識到初創公司就像中學生：他們需要至少一名嚴厲的老師來督促他們成長。這名老師不會說那些空洞的鼓勵，而是提出批評，打出很低的分數。學生們覺得老師一定是討厭他們，而實際上老師只是希望他們提高。許多學生認為老師不公平，但也有少數人會利用這些批評來提升自我。后面這些人無論做什么，都會成為佼佼者。 拒絕最苛求的客戶是很危險的事情。十個月前，我幾乎就放走了這樣一家客戶，因為實現要求的成本太高。這家客戶是股份經濟公司，他們不斷提出要求，希望我們盡管做出產品細分。我們有點受不了了，不過隨后就意識到他們的要求是完全正確的。我們做了產品細分，這家公司則用我們的平臺替換了他們的整個營銷產品。現在想想還覺得有些可怕，我們差點放棄了一家客戶，而這家客戶的反饋讓我們開發出了一款貢獻2016年一半營收的產品。 你也許認為那些多疑又難纏的客戶會抓住一切機會抨擊你。不是的。當我們今年進行B輪融資時，一名投資者要求與我們最難纏的客戶——一家《財富》美國500強的服裝市場營銷公司對話。我本以為我們一定會失去這位投資者，不過我還是引薦了他們。這家營銷公司給了我們收到過的最強有力的推薦。沒錯，她也提到了我們的缺點，不過這才讓她的推薦如此可信和有效。那位投資者加入了我們的B輪融資。 關鍵點在于：不要把批評和失望混為一談。客戶苛求是因為他們想讓你提供一流的產品，他們懷疑是因為他們在意你的產品及其性能。你反倒應該提防那些只說好話的客戶。 盡管我們在過去兩年中取得了成功，但我還是希望自己在建立Bluecore之前就知道這些。我走向市場的戰略本應該是尋找那些最難纏、最具懷疑精神的客戶。我本應該更早、更頻繁地參考他們的意見，獲得他們的產品開發建議。我本應該花更多時間與杰克這樣能改變我們想法的人交流。 畢竟，生意就是吸引并留住客戶。你最難纏的客戶會幫助你達成這兩點。（財富中文網） 譯者：嚴匡正 |
The Entrepreneur Insider network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question “What’s something you wish you knew before starting your business?” is written by Fayez Mohamood, cofounder and CEO of Bluecore. Some entrepreneurs believe that life is too short to deal with difficult customers. Misapplying the 80-20 rule, they try to dump the 20% of customers who cause 80% of their problems. This is a huge mistake. Before launching Bluecore, I wish I had known that my most skeptical, demanding customers would become our best advocates. This ode to difficult customers may seem counterintuitive to entrepreneurs with “happy ears” syndrome. Early on, it feels good to find validation, right? You pitch some prospective customers and they say, “Wow, that’s a great idea!” Forget the naysayers—you must be on the right track. Too bad those prospects will not buy your product six months later. They’re being nice, just like Aunt Carol who said, “I love your startup idea, honey! Want some more eggnog?” Before building the Bluecore platform in 2013, I had the good fortune to land a meeting with a digital marketer we’ll call “Jake.” He worked for an outdoor retailer and took the meeting because he had strong opinions about triggered email technology. I described what we planned to do. Jake essentially said it was nice, but that we needed two other pieces of core functionality before he’d become our customer. Four months later, I returned to Jake with our complete product, and it still wasn’t good enough. He asked for more. In the meantime, we signed our first 10 customers. “Well they like the product,” I thought to myself. “Should I keep building for Jake?” I valued Jake’s opinion too much to ignore it, because while his demands were tough, his ideas were exceptional. We kept building for him, and eventually Jake did become a customer. He forced us to build a much better product than we would have built otherwise. The experience made me realize that startups are like high school students: They need at least one hard-ass teacher to grow. Instead of spewing half-hearted encouragement, this teacher dishes out critique and lower grades. The students think the teacher must hate them, when in fact he wants them to excel. Many students accuse the teacher of being unfair, but a few use the critique to up their game. Those few become the top performers in whatever they do. It is dangerous to dismiss your most demanding customers. Ten months ago, I almost let go of our most difficult account at the time because it was consuming an inordinate amount of resources. A player in the sharing economy, this customer wanted us to build a segmentation product ASAP—and brought it up constantly. We reached our boiling point, but then recognized that their demand was spot on. We built the segmentation product, and this company replaced its entire marketing stack with our platform. It’s scary to think that we almost fired a customer whose feedback led to a product that will account for half of our revenue in 2016. You might think your skeptical, difficult customers will bash you if they have the chance. Not so. While we were raising our Series B this year, an investor asked to speak with one of our toughest customers, a Fortune 500 clothing marketer. I was certain we’d lose this investor, but I had to make the intro anyway. This marketer gave Bluecore the strongest recommendation we had ever received. Yes, she also talked about our shortcomings, but that’s what made her endorsement so credible and effective. The investor joined our B round. Here’s the key point: Don’t confuse critique with disappointment. Customers are demanding because they want you to deliver at the top of your game, and they’re skeptical because they care about your product and its capabilities. Be wary of the customers who have only nice things to say. Despite our success over the past two years, I wish I had known all of this before launching Bluecore. My go-to market strategy would have been to seek out the most difficult, skeptical customers I could possibly find. I would have turned to them for references and product development feedback early and often. I would have spent more time with people like Jake who could rip our ideas to shreds. Ultimately, business is about attracting and keeping customers. Your toughest critics will help you accomplish both. |
