“Customer-obsessed.”
Ever since Jeff Bezos wrote that not-so-little compound word in Amazon’s original letter to shareholders, the phrase has served as the anchor of go-to-market (GTM) strategies for companies across industry lines.
But have B2B marketing teams gone too far?
Yes, putting your customers at the heart of your GTM strategy is essential. It also works, with nearly every successful company in business today going out of its way to make its customers happy.
The Ritz Carlton, for example, famously encourages its employees to spend up to $2,000 to resolve guest issues. Meanwhile, Blockbuster completely lost sight of its customers’ needs — easy access to endless and personalized entertainment — and quickly found itself left in the dust by the likes of Netflix and Hulu.
Most of us think this is GTM 101: listen to your customers and lead with that, right? Not so fast.
We recently caught up with Jill Rowley, currently GTM Advisor at Stage 2 Capital. Jill has over 24 years of GTM experience advising companies like HubSpot, Guild, Klue, and more. Previously known as the EloQueen at Eloqua and having the rare distinction of being one of Salesforce’s first 100 employees, she thinks some GTM teams are taking their obsession too far.
*Gasp*
Let us explain.
What it really means to be customer-obsessed in B2B
B2C preferences have been creeping into the B2B world for some time. Case in point: According to Gartner, 75% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free sales experience, aka one that mimics the experiences people expect in B2C. Buying something online, for example, or booking your next vacation typically doesn’t require much, if any, human interaction.
However, despite B2C behaviors trickling over into B2B — and GTM teams recognizing this — it’s still impossible to point to a universally accepted definition of “customer-obsessed.”
But if we put 100 GTM leaders in a room and presented them with Forrester’s take — placing the customer’s needs, desires, and satisfaction at the forefront of all business decisions and actions — we think all 100 would nod in agreement.
That is unless Jill’s in the room. In that case, we’d see 99 nods and Jill begging everyone to reconsider.
But not because she fundamentally disagrees with the concept of caring about your customers. Instead, she believes a single word in that “accepted” definition guides GTM teams astray: “all.”
To Jill, these three letters make all the difference (no pun intended).
Her argument? GTM teams take this definition to heart and let it dictate their every move, regardless of the impact on their company’s mission, roadmap, or employees.
It’s an obsession within an obsession, like Product teams rapidly implementing a feature based on feedback from one customer, Sales teams revising their entire value proposition based on one prospect interaction, or Customer Success teams shifting resources to a “high-maintenance” customer simply because of their high annual recurring revenue (ARR).
So, this begs the question: How did we go from Bezos’ initial message, which struck the perfect balance between the needs of the customer and the business, to a scenario where this simple phrase completely hijacks GTM strategies?
Jill argues that the issues stem from GTM teams feeling obligated to bend over backward for their customers. “I think the term ‘customer-obsessed’ sounds good—who wouldn’t want to be customer-obsessed?” she explained. Basically, she’s saying that “customer-obsessed” has become such a buzzword in the B2B world that teams now think it’s a prerequisite to win.
It’s not, and that’s because your customers don’t always know what’s right for your business — and we don’t mean that in an overly harsh way, either.
It’s just the reality of B2B. It’s your job (we’d even call it your obligation) to guide buyers toward a solution that’ll truly benefit them for the long haul, and sometimes, that means making a tough decision or not giving in to every last demand.
And this further illuminates the need for better customer evidence. You can listen in aggregate and then leverage those insights as input for broader business decisions.
This is a reality Jill often experienced at Eloqua. “I often found myself in a position where I couldn’t let the customer buy our product because they weren’t ready,” she explained. “If a customer signed on the dotted line but didn’t have the necessary tools and resources to adopt our software, the chances they would succeed were slim to none.”
That, friends, is what it means to be customer-obsessed. It’s not about saying yes to everything; it’s about deeply understanding and anticipating customer needs, delivering valuable solutions (when it makes sense), and becoming a trusted partner they can rely on at every turn.
Building customer trust and a partner ecosystem first from within
With this new definition of customer-obsessed in mind, companies need to understand how to balance customer needs and build a valuable solution for them and the business.
Your customers don’t want to hear you brag about your “best-in-class” features or “out-of-this-world” use case. Sorry, but features and functionalities alone aren’t enough to move the needle.
Okay, Jill didn’t phrase it exactly like that, but she implied as much when talking about the B2B world’s shift to the “Who” economy and how selling in it is now all about showing buyers how others like them are solving the same problems they face.
“People don’t want to see a demo of your product until they know it’s also helped people like them,” Jill said. “GTM teams aren’t just selling a product; they’re earning attention and selling change, which is far easier to gain through someone the buyer already trusts.”
Unfortunately, earning that trust isn’t a given. Often, roadblocks to earning that trust concern wider internal changes that have nothing to do with the customer. Jill points to a few roadblocks facing GTM teams: short-sighted compensation plans, a lack of internal enablement, and misaligned GTM teams.
Here’s what they mean:
- Compensation plans: Compensation plans drive the Sales team’s behavior. Jill points out that they’re typically designed for the “quota crusher” to close deals quickly and for as much money as possible.
That’s not very customer-obsessed, is it? While teams don’t have to rewrite their compensation plans to focus solely on customer fit, they can take steps to navigate this roadblock, like tying compensation to retention or longer-term customer goals.
- Internal enablement: According to Jill, most B2B companies start by training their employees, particularly their Sales teams, on the product when they should be shining the spotlight on the problems the product solves.
Remember: The product itself doesn’t really matter in the Who economy. All buyers care about is the solutions it offers, and the specific pain points it solves.
- Team alignment: Jill also points to a misalignment between Product and GTM teams as a key roadblock holding companies back. In a customer-obsessed company, especially those product-led-growth ones (PLG), there’s no “throwing something over the wall to the Product team or vice versa.”
This means avoiding situations where the Product team is building for the sake of building or rushing features to close one deal. Instead, truly customer-obsessed companies make sure Product and GTM teams align with a clear consensus on the product or feature, why they’re building it, and who it’s for.
Now, take a step back. What do these roadblocks have in common?
They have nothing to do with the customer, which is at the core of Jill’s argument against most GTM teams’ definition of customer-obsessed. She says, “GTM teams aren’t designing with and for the customer. Instead, they’re designing for their teams’ objectives and processes.”
Many customer-obsessed companies think their actions benefit the customer, but in reality, they’re only helping themselves.
The key to success in the Who economy: Putting up guardrails on your customer obsession
Being customer-obsessed has long been a badge of honor— and there’s nothing wrong with that. Caring about customers is a timeless pursuit, but pushing the obsession to the extreme can lead you, your company, and your employees down a tricky path.
Today, being customer-obsessed doesn’t mean taking everything your customer says to heart or saying yes to every request; far from it.
Instead, it’s about finding the right balance between what’s good for your customers and business. After all, one can’t win without the other.
Want to see how UserEvidence can help you find the perfect balance between customer obsession and business impact? Book a demo today.
