We all love serendipity… Ever have a conversation with someone only to find out you have something in common? These common bonds are often the basis of romance, great friendships, and important business relationships. If you have a strong relationship with your client, they are always excited to hear that you can support them in other ways. The serendipity happens because you’re communicating and asking questions.
Our best chance for business is within our existing accounts. Assuming that the habits discussed in the prior two ‘Desk of Brad’ notes are well executed, new opportunities will naturally flow your way. At Tahzoo we do a lot of different things, we have many disciplines within the company and learnings from virtually all of our accounts, both current and past. It’s imperative that each of us understand the full range of service offerings within Studios and Labs. More importantly, you need to know how the business objectives of your clients are tied to our service offerings. As I’ve been spending more time with you in the field, it’s obvious to me that there is a lot of training and knowledge transfer required for us to be successful.
There are three critical dimensions to finding new opportunities: Know your customer’s business, know their success or reward metrics, and know Tahzoo products and services.
New opportunities start with knowing your customer’s business. BCG isn’t in the business of consulting – that’s only part of it. They are in the business of recruiting and relationships. McDonald’s doesn’t just sell hamburgers; they are one of the largest real estate holders in the world. How can Tahzoo services and products be leveraged to create growth and profitability?
The second view of a customer’s business is the demand side business model. How do they generate customers and business? Do they have a direct field sales force? Are they channel driven with distributors? Are they marketing and e-commerce driven? This is important to understand and discuss as we are either enabling the business model, encouraging or preventing disruption, or adding new models to the existing business. Our solutions are either helping them grow faster or create efficiencies, with above the line impact or below the line impact. Either way, every person on the team needs to know how to build a business case for the solution against the business model.
Answers to these questions are something that I expect everyone in Tahzoo to be able to answer regarding their clients. The questions are a great basis for starting conversations and enabling a more meaningful exchange of information. I’m encouraging each of you to talk with your clients, and if you’re not client-facing that often, then discuss these issues in the daily stand up. We are “Driven by Big Ideas” – we need the best and most thoughtful solutions we can conceive for our clients.
So, let’s go learn about our clients’ business, ask some insightful questions, and see if there are other ways that we can help them.
Thanks,
Brad