Who are you really innovating for?

I once observed a board meeting that went on for four hours without mentioning one pretty important thing: 

The Customer. 

Not once. 

• We need to increase sales. 

• We need to hire more sales reps. 

• We need to revamp our CRM. 

• We need to rewrite our playbooks. 

• We need to look at your compensation plans. 

• We need to consider recapping or raising. 

“We need to…” 

All great topics for a business with sales that were stuck. These are certainly priorities to be considered. 

But a well prepared, four hour discussion with a business’ decision makers that doesn’t have a single reference to The Customer represents a big problem. 

Whether you are the CEO or the sales manager, take note of this: 

If you and your team spend more time talking about what the people inside your business think than you do talking about what The Customer thinks, I’m willing to bet you have a massive vulnerability. 

Because someone else is focusing on the single thing you are ignoring: 

The Customer. 

As I say in my ebook, Systematic Growth about customer feedback, “Any feedback you disregard may be the ammo a competitor or entrepreneur needs to create space between you and your customers.” 

When I start working with a new business, one of the first things I like to look at are internal communications. I’m looking for the general tone of communications and how much of it is framed from an internal perspective versus the customer’s perspective. 

Try this yourself. Go back through your slide decks, meeting notes, agendas, quarterly reports, and messages to or from the “people in charge.” 

How many reference the customer?

How many position changes that need to be made, or improvements that need to be considered, from the customer’s perspective compared to your internal perspective?

How many processes, purchases, and priorities are actually important to your customer? 

If you find your messaging is “inside out,” you may seriously need to consider reframing how you look at problems and opportunities. 

Rest assured, if you don’t, someone else will.