Identifying Customers on the Peters $21, 000 Pyramid.
Brent Peters March 25 2009 02:29:11 PM
Abraham Maslow - Hierarchy of NeedsKnow your customer! Know your customers IT! Identify them on the pyramid. Have them identify themselves on the pyramid. Personally, I think making people internalize, assess, and think is critical towards any behavior change.
Given the 2 pictures here above, one from the representation of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and the other one, my own modified version.
I actually am meaning to show that over the years that when I have talked with customers, I often have seen this Pattern of this IT Hierarchy of Needs within their organizations. Now, again this is purely my own personal view and perception, but I have been testing it for a while, and often find it to be pretty darned accurate. Recently, when I met with a customer, I found a sales person trying to talk to the customer as if that customer were near the top of the pyramid, in the "Full Collaboration" area, when in fact this customers was at the bottom with simple email, no calendar, simple documents sent as attachments, and Telephone. Yes, there are a lot of those that exist. Now interestingly enough, when I pointed this out, and they start asking me about the "AppDev...", which is in the next pyramid up, then I turned the question back at them and tried to turn this pyramid into a left to right horizontal timeline, and asked the simple question of "What is your IT strategy, and especially what is your IT Strategy around Collaboration???, ... and then I will answer your question about AppDev!!!, ...". You could see the look on this guys (customers) face change to one of reflecting, contemplating, and considering this question. AS a result, this customer asked for help, and more discussions on how to build an IT strategy. It lead to finishing the conversation around what others are doing here. This was a perfect scenario. Our ability to help make customers realize that with our products, they also need to start thinking about their business and end user needs in a whole new approach.
Next I had another customer that was actually at the LOB/Silo'd level. Well, 1 person/customer was at that level, but his boss, was actually one level down at the mail/calendar area, ... So I tried an experiment. I actually showed them this slide, and gave them the example about the previous customer. How this customer had no realization about these tiers above simple email, ... I then said, but I know that you guys are really up here at the "Actualization" stage at the top, ... This customer wasn't even at the social computing stage, yet. They didn't want to hear about social computing, ... but it opened the door for them to want to know more, not be left out. I don't think anyone (pride) wants to feel like they are lower than they really are, ... So this customer took the challenge, and we played through some scenarios in their industry using Mail/Cal/ST(no user of ST before)/Connections/Quickr/... This customer took the challenge to try and reach above where they normally think about their business and their problem domain, and took these new challenges to heart. The customer was jazzed about their own business now, and what the potentials were for their business in their industry, ...
Punchline, the customer actually said, " I think this stuff is really great, ... thank you for showing this to us, ... but how could we pay for it? ", I said "You couldn't have done a better assist for me to slam-dunk this basket ... Do you know that typewriter that you are paying potentially hundreds of dollars per year for your users to use?", He said "what typewriter??, ...", I said "Yes, the typewriter I am talking about are these editors for word, presentation, and excel. I would recommend that you query your people, and any that really don't use or rarely use them, which is probably a good 50%, then give them Symphony which comes with Notes for free. Renegotiate your contract with whichever typewriter vendor you use, I would love to see how that conversation goes between you and that vendor, ...". Now, between you and me, I am not sure what vendor that this typewriter is being purchased from, but "free is free". "Then, Mr customer, you will have some funds to pursue your next Business goals with Collaboration IT.".
Lastly, I consider one of my greatest strengths to be that of observation. I watch people. I observe their conditions. Try and understand why they do what they do, ....
I also love to travel. I love people. I love talking with people, more importantly letting people let me talk endlessly :) I love new people, I love cultures.
I have made many trips to great places. I would like to comment on one of my favorite places. China. I love China. I love visiting there. I love the people there. I love the customers. I have visited there over the last 4 years. Now, just my opinion, but from my first visit there, one of the first images that popped into my head was the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Not in a bad way. The reason is, just looking at how their society has changed over the last couple of decades, I tried to map China on the Maslow's pyramid based from the 1980's, but then also do a mapping of China in 2005. I found it difficult, but an interesting thought. I told myself. That as I saw the infrastructure improve in the future (past 2005). As I saw the Olympics, as I saw better conditions around air quality, as I saw better more modern automobiles, as I saw MORE foreign automobiles, as I especially saw more progressive modern forms of their culture develop, both unique in timeframe and culture, to China, then I would realize that they were truly more identifiable (on a per capita basis) at the top of this pyramid. Again, I love China. I think the people I work with there are some of the brightest, hardest working, and clearly they, especially the youth, have arrived at the top of that pyramid. Also, over the last year, I see a lot more German and even Italian high dollar cars on the road now :) there in China. The air was clean. The improvements in their wonderful historical relics, heritage, and art, ... The Forbidden City, was clearly polished to it's great past, from when I was there 4 years ago. I have a true admiration for the Place, People, and Culture.
My personal opinion again, and I will make this claim. There are GREAT opportunities in the Business and IT in China. I have found that many of the companies focus heavily towards the lower end of the IT pyramid. Mail, Telephone,no Sametime (IM), no Calendar in many cases. ... There is great opportunity in working with these companies for the Lotus products, to increase the value, efficiency, productivity, of their companies, but we need to help many of these companies establish a strategy for their Business, and we can easily start that by helping them see a common strategy in their Industry, (cite - Geoffrey Moore "Bowling Alley"). This is of no surprise, ... as a lot of this hasn't been viewed as highly consumptive in China. At first, I thought it was largely about being cost conscious. However, after talking with many customers, more and more I am realizing that SOME (not all) companies just don't have the proper frame of reference to look above higher in the IT pyramid, and need help to understand this. I have theories on why that is, and will follow up on that in a later update, but I will just say that there is a clear and distinct correlation.
Last bit to this. Do you think that there could be a correlation between these 2 pyramids? In other words, on a personal life based "Self Actualization", can that person only be focused on the lower part of the "IT Pyramid"? Conversely, can a non-Self Actualized person want to reach up and pursue BP/IT Actualization? Personally, I think that the corollary's are very tightly linked. In other words, I don't think that a person that is lower on the Maslow chart, will have the Actualization personally to pursue at great endeavor very far up on the IT ladder. My own personal opinion only. BTW, I am making no claim to a corollary between each level between pyramids, it is more a comparison of self realization, vs. business/technology usage realization overall.
Brentus Esotericus
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