Winning Business Customers and the End-Users

This Talk was part of a Mentoring session done for the 2022 [Jadu Fellowship Program](https://www.linkedin.com/company/jadujobs/) and most of the target audience were New Graduates and Final year undergrad students from Pakistani Universities.

My goal was to talk about some key learnings from my own personal experience as a Customer-facing Manager. I gave them a background on different types of Business Customers and stressed on the importance of caring about the end-user experience and how they can improve the output of their craft by bringing a change in their approach.

Transcript

1. Customer Success
5. Success = Outcomes
7. How can YOU contribute towards Winning your Customers?
8. Disclaimer: The views expressed are my personal opinions based on decade long experience and not that of any of my Employers.
9. My Name is Wahib Technical Program Manager Munich Target Audience: Jadu Fellowship Cohort 2022 24.04.2022
10. My Story Professional Career • 2010 - 2019: Progressed extensively in Android Development • 2018: Transitioned into Developer Advocacy • 2019 - now: Technical Project Management Industry Exposure • Pakistani Outsourcing Partner, German startups, SMEs and International Large Corporation • Diverse Industry Verticals: Mobility Tech, Digital Health, Digital Transformation, Fintech, Automotive and IoT
11. Outsourcing Partner Client & Product
12. Background 01
13. Who is a “Customer”?
14. Who is a “Customer”? Platform//Services/Product Business Customer / Client End User Outsourcing Partner
15. What Drives Success for a “Business Customer”?
16. Typical “Business Customer” Success Journey
17. Typical “Solution Building” Process
18. Challenges 02
19. You as Employee Project An Employee Perspective Employer
20. You as Employee Project An Employee Perspective Employer Business Customer (Another Organization) End Customer (Individual User) B2B B2C
21. You as Employee Project An Employee Perspective Employer B2B Business Customer (Another Organization)
22. Challenges faced by a Business Customer Lack of Cultural Context 05 • Unaware of cultural differences • Issues due to non-verbal communication • Hard to gain Trust Poor Cost Estimate 04 • Not enough or Too Many team members assigned • A lot of friction if Project gets delayed • Not good buffer for unplanned changes Risk of Low Quality Service 03 • Outdated Tech Stack, Poor Design, Low Quality Code • Not able to get Innovative solutions • Not good documentation Poor Communication 02 • Not able to communicate requirements & expectations • Lack of transparent feedback • Delays in escalations Lack of Experience with Outsourcing 01 • Hard to find the right partner • Trust issues → Micromanagement • Not choosing the appropriate model
24. You You You
28. Winning Strategy 03
30. What differentiates an Average employee from a Great employee?
31. You as Employee Project Employer Business Customer (Another Organization) End Customer (Individual User) B2B B2C End Customer (Individual Business/ User) The one who cares about the “End Customer”
34. Developers + Empathy for Users = Win-Win
36. “Ugh, I can’t believe how designers agreed to approve this design.”
37. “Ugh, I can’t believe how designers agreed to approve this design” developers implement
38. “Ugh, I can’t believe how designers agreed to approve this design” developers implement User experience trumps technology
39. Ask Questions
40. Us vs Them
41. “I am just a Developer!”
42. Understand design to understand the user
43. Be Proactive, Not Reactive
46. It’s Ok to Say No
47. General Tips 04
48. ➢ Keep learning and Do a great job at what you are doing ➢ Do understand the customer’s needs and business goals, strategy and KPI of the customer. Why they are building it? ➢ Always have the end-customer and their user experience in mind. How can they be successful? ➢ It’s ok if things are not clear in the start of the project ➢ Give feedback, raise concerns, escalate on time ➢ Understand cultural context of your customer
49. ➢ Be able to speak their language and depending on who you are talking to: tech vs executive ➢ Set expectations Upfront! Don't show them the technology in working until you are moderately confident. ➢ It is very important what to say to partners but even more important to know, what not to say. Something which will make your position weaker or sends a wrong misleading message ➢ Regular engagement, regular feedback cycle
50. ➢ Put relationships first. Be very professional, supportive and go extra mile ➢ Don't meet your neighbour when house is on fire. Have a relationship with important stakeholders on customer side and teams anyways before you even need their help. ➢ Don't ask questions when someone is screaming for help. Fix and help first ➢ When you join a company, it can be easy to only see the things you immediately want to fix. Without context, without understanding, and without curiosity, you risk alienating and hurting others. "
51. ➢ “When you join a company, it can be easy to only see the things you immediately want to fix. Without context, without understanding, and without curiosity, you risk alienating and hurting others.”
53. Be aware of Business Customer’s Interests ❏ Know what problem they are solving and why ❏ Put relationships first ❏ Go the extra mile in educating and supporting them ❏ Be aware of their red lines Don’t Ignore the End Users of your Customer ❏ Ask the right questions: find out who will use it and how ❏ Build the best and desired user experience ❏ Advocate for the end users in front of your team and customer Adopt Proactive Attitude ❏ Let go of “I am just a developer” mindset ❏ Be curious to understand how other functions work like design and sales ❏ Increase competency → more weightage to your feedback Communication is Key ❏ Read the room: Know what to say and how to say in appropriate manner ❏ Be aware of their cultural context ❏ Speak in their language: technical details vs high-level overview ❏ Don’t ask questions when they are asking for help Key Takeaways @wahibhaq
54. Thanks for listening!
55. If you want to connect in future https://linkedin.com/in/wahibhaq/ www.wahibhaq.com @wahibhaq