The Buyers Are Never Wrong
Entrepreneurs
often get stuck in--about their products, their strategies and themselves. But
are you selling what you want, or what the customer wants?
BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS@TULLMAN
There's no question that the unfortunate
downside of the relentless mindset, passion and persistence that makes it
possible for entrepreneurs to walk through walls, ignore prior failures, and
overcome staggering odds is their tendency to focus obsessively and
far too narrowly on their singular vision. Now add to that their obstinate refusal to
face obvious facts like the dog is not eating the dog food or
their tendency to double down on lost causes and stay the wrong course for far
too long. This explains why entrepreneurs don't have an "off" switch
and rarely know how to stop.
This behavior usually stems from an enormous
reserve of self-confidence, a firm belief in their own omniscience accompanied
by persistent blind spots, and an unwillingness to ever admit that they could
be wrong. Even in the face of poor sales, lack of traction, and painfully
growing losses, it's very hard to convince startup CEOs to change their course.
Result? When new businesses hit the wall and implode, they usually leave no
skid marks.
But the biggest problem in many of these cases
is that the entrepreneur has simply fallen in love with a newly-minted product
or service and just can't understand why the world doesn't immediately agree.
They don't realize that inventing a new and better solution to a problem isn't
necessarily the hard part. The real difficulty is getting customers to buy, use
and adopt it. And, not surprisingly, customers make their purchase decisions
based on their own interests, desires and concerns. Which is to say they don't
really care about yours. The issue is always the same: It's not what you're
selling, it's what they're buying that matters. The most enthusiastic sellers
sometimes can't see the forest for the trees.
Entrepreneurs are apt to get so excited
telling their back story, explaining their mission, and sharing exactly how the
sausage gets made that they forget that the world doesn't really care that much
about history, hard times, or good intentions - people just want what they want
as soon as they can get it. All the rest of the wonderful window dressing, and
marketing drool, is just noise. The renowned Harvard Business School professor
Clay Christensen used to say: find out the job that the customer needs to get
done and make it happen. Your main task is to remove all the obstacles to a
prompt and painless purchase and make the whole deal as frictionless as
possible. Do that and you're home free. Amazing how quickly things can improve
when you get out of your own way. 00:
I saw this entire process play out over the
last couple of years at Songfinch, which is one of my
favorite song shops. The company composes songs on demand for customers, and I
may have commissioned one of their first custom songs a few years ago. But, in
truth, up until mid-2020, when they really woke up and changed their approach
and then watched their sales explode, the Songfinch team of proud and
experienced "music guys" thought they knew what they were doing. Must
have been the world's fault that they just couldn't seem to catch fire. There
are two lessons here: (a) don't bet against the world and (b) when the dogs
won't eat the dog food, it's usually not the dogs' fault.
They thought they were connecting a bunch of
talented and independent musicians, songwriters and producers with consumers
looking to help create customized and personalized songs as gifts for special
people in their lives on very special occasions. This was a proud and noble
thing to do and looked like a sure "win-win" for everyone. The tag
line at the time was "Stories by You, Songs by Us" - a testament to
process rather than passion and emotion.
Unfortunately, they believed that their
"story" was all about the craft, caring and sharing, which are no
doubt important parts of the cool, creative process. They also believed that
customers would be fascinated by the mechanics of making music. What they
forgot - like thousands of entrepreneurs before them - is that there's a reason
they call it the music "business." Meaning that there's much more
business than there is music. Eventually, the Songfinch team figured out what
business they were really in -- their core business was selling highly emotive
experiences.
They weren't selling songs any more than they
were selling sausages and almost no one really cared about what went into the
creative process. People only cared about the end result and, even more
surprising, the end result - what every single song buyer was looking for -
wasn't the song at all. It was the sigh and the smile on someone's face when
the product was delivered.
They weren't selling a product, they were
selling a powerful emotional experience, a moment, and it was more about making
people happy than about making music. The song, for sure, was the delivery
vehicle, but the experience (and the thought behind it) were the silver
linings. Today the new Songfinch site talks about the experience of
"One-of-a-Kind Wow Moments." Life isn't a matter of milestones, but
of moments. And, while the moment may be temporary, the memory is forever. This
isn't exactly rocket science - Kodak sold film and paper but pitched Kodak
Moments and Coke - sugar water and all - taught the whole world to sing. But
each business and every entrepreneur needs to find and grab that special sauce
that makes the magic and lights the fire.
Once Songfinch shifted gears and focused on talking
about creating of moments of joy, the world shifted around them as well. The
changes in engagement and interest were profound, and the business grew
exponentially. If you're constantly focusing on results, things will never
change. But if you focus on change, you get results. In this case, getting over
themselves, getting out and listening to the customers' real desires and goals,
and then delivering sweet, sentimental and sexy songs are what ultimately got
the job done.
Life isn't measured by the number of breaths
we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.