I was just reading Ben Thompson's latest member post regarding Cyanogen in India. On a side note, if you don't subscribe to the daily update, it is worth every penny, great insights. Anyway, he mentions how Cyanogen is focused on engineering around Android so they don't have to be reliant on Google. Thompson then went on to say the engineering solution is not focused on the customer experience, so it will have a hard time competing in the consumer market.
This got me thinking about the different kinds of companies there are and to dominate in the consumer space, what should a company be driven by to succeed. I'm sure I'm missing different types of companies, so feel free to let me know if I missed any, but there are a few different types of companies that come to mind:
- Engineering driven companies
- Sales driven companies
- Marketing driven companies
- Financial driven companies
- Design driven companies
I contend the design driven company is the only company that can truly have long-term success in the consumer market. The design driven company can beat low-cost competitors and drive sustainable profits. This is the Apple story.
Engineering Driven Companies
These companies are engineer focused. They look at the world through all the cool stuff they can build, whether it be technology or buildings, the engineer rules the roost in this company. The problem with the engineering focused companies is they forget the customer experience and focus on the technology. The need to create something cool outweighs the need to solve a problem. Samsung fell into this trap with the Galaxy's, especially 4 and 5.
By not first looking at the customer experience and then trying to solve the customers problems, a company will create cool technology and then try to fit a customer experience around the cool technology. This will not have sustainability in the consumer space. The mass consumer will be confused by the technology and get frustrated with the experience. Eventually that consumer will choose to churn and choose another product that focuses more on their experiences rather than cool technology.
Sales Driven Companies
These companies are focused on making the next sale. They look at the world through the need to solve the next customers problem, not the customer experience. A sales driven organization tends to try to be everything to everyone, and we all know how that story ends. The need to sell the most and constantly focusing on acquisition drives companies to lose focus on retaining customers. Microsoft was led by a salesperson for many years and while they had success for many of those, they were disrupted many times over.
By focusing on selling the most of something, the customer experience becomes muddled. To serve many masters, a company must focus on creating many different experiences at many different price points for the customer. This creates no expertise in one area and allows for disruption to come from all angles. Focus is the key to customer experience and the sales driven company has a hard time selling when everyone is not their customer. When the focus is on the customer experience, a company can acquire and retain at the same time
Marketing Driven Companies
These companies are focused on making the company well known. They look at the world through their message. They focus their time to try and get someone to buy a product or position themselves in the minds of the consumer through advertising and social media. The infatuation with their own creativity and messaging tends to put the focus on the company, not on the customer experience.
By focusing on branding and messaging, the customer experience becomes secondary. The metrics of this company is awareness and likes, instead of on customer satisfaction and experience. The marketing company believes they can convince anyone to buy and the power of the brand will hide all sins. Customers in the long run will not be loyal to the brand if the experience is not up to par. They may want to stay with the brand, but they will churn for the fact that being cool and hip is not satisfying their ultimate need for the best experience.
Financial Driven Companies
These companies focus on making as much money for their shareholders as possible. They look at the world through profits and cash flows, leaving the customer as a means to an end for those metrics. The desire to make the most money trumps the customer experience in all cases, unless there is a clear-cut ROI for that experience. These companies get uncomfortable with words like experience, because it can't necessarily be measured or used to create a proforma.
By focusing on profits, the customer experience tends to fall off in favor of saving expenses. This company will question R&D and figure out ways to save money now, while sacrificing the future of the company. Wall Street may like the short term gains of focusing on profits, but when the customer experience erodes and the customers start to churn 3-5 years down the line, it then becomes a marketing or product issue. These may be the least sustainable businesses in the long run.
Design Driven Companies
These companies focus on the design of what they are producing. They look at the world through solving problems. The desire to take a customer experience and make it better trumps profits and sales. The belief in a design driven company is that if the customer experience is better than all others, the profits and sales will follow. Design is how it works, not just how it looks.
I used to think that Apple was a marketing company. Of course I did, I was a marketer and Steve Jobs would get up on stage and do great keynotes and their advertising was second to none. They had to be a marketing company. If they were just a marketing company, then they would have already been disrupted. The iPhone would not be a dominate player and they would be a niche product company with nice profits.
The fact Apple is a design company has kept them from being disrupted. Their products are designed with the customer experience at the forefront. Being able to pay for something without having to pull out your wallet with the touch of your finger is a simple solution. That solution is not coming from a space of engineering, it is coming from a space of design. Apple looked at the problem and designed a solution that was easy for the customer to use and that is why people use Apple Pay, otherwise Google would have already been the owner of the space because they were first.
When a company is design focused they don't have to be first. These companies want to truly solve customer problems, not be fast to market. If the design company can't solve a problem, they won't enter that market. A design company will be long-lasting and survive into the future because they care about the people paying money to use their products and services. Those products and services are designed for the customers they serve, not to take advantage of a need of the customer, but to truly solve their problems. That is true design.