Blogger Bob Lefsetz sent a link out yesterday that has had my head reeling ever since I clicked on it.
It’s quite stunning, actually. BGR.com purports it to be an open letter written by a “high level” employee of Research in Motion (RIM) to senior leadership, detailing his loss of confidence in the organization, and his belief that the company is crumbling.
Already, I’ve received a few messages noting that much of the direction the writer wants his company to undertake is closely aligned with the process outlined in “Collapse of Distinction,” however, I have no reason to believe it’s anything other than mere coincidence.
Nonetheless, it’s remarkable how basic and compelling the writer’s requests are for improvement. Here are a few:
1) Focus on the end user experience
The letter states, “Let’s start an internal innovation revival with teams focused on what users will love instead of chasing ‘feature parity’ and feature differentiation for no good reason (Adobe Flash being a major example).”
Are you having that conversation in your organization? Is there dialogue about what you can do that will enthrall customers — as opposed to what you have to do just to keep up with the competition?
By the way, BlackBerry has an ad in airports that is so bad, it makes me laugh out loud. It’s a picture of their new tablet with the line “Amateur Hour is Over!” — meaning they believe they are infinitely superior to the iPad. Are you kidding me? They believe and are stating the inventor of the mass appeal of the category is “amateur”? Look, I understand they want to promote their advantages over a competitor…but to suggest Apple is amateur is just…insane.
3) Cut projects to the bone.
“There is a serious need to consolidate our focus to just a handful of projects. Period. We need to be disciplined here. Again, back to point #1, focus on the end users. They are the ones making both consumer & enterprise purchase decisions.
Strategy is often in the things you decide not to do.”
7) Now is the time for humility with a dash of paranoia.
“Overconfidence clouds good decision-making. We missed not boldly reacting to the threat of iPhone when we saw it in January over four years ago. We laughed and said they are trying to put a computer on a phone, that it won’t work. We should have made the QNX-like transition then. We are now 3-4 years too late. That is the painful truth… it was a major strategic oversight…”
So…what was RIM’s official comeback?
Unbelievably, the way it was presented almost confirms every suspicion this writer has about his company. Here’s part of the response:
“The company is thankfully in a solid business and financial position to tackle the opportunities ahead with a solid balance sheet (nearly $3 billion in cash and no debt), strong profitability (RIM’s net income last quarter was $695 million) and substantial international growth (international revenue in Q1 grew 67% over the same quarter last year). In fact, while growth has slowed in the US, RIM still shipped 13.2 million BlackBerry smartphones last quarter (which is about 100 smartphones per minute, 24 hours per day) and RIM is more committed than ever to serving its loyal customers and partners around the world…”
(Sorry to put you to sleep there…but, I wanted to provide that so-called “equal time.”)
Did you see ANYTHING in RIM’s reply regarding their end-user experience, humility, accountability, innovative products and marketing — in other words, any of the points the writer made in such a compelling fashion? No? Me, either.
Instead, we get an answer that could be the response to a test question in an MBA exam. Which, come to think of it, is probably how the response was developed and completed.
Read both the writer’s letter and the official response. It’s a classic lesson of the disconnection between professionals who “get it” in today’s marketplace…and those addicted to the ways of business of the past.
Link to the writer’s “open letter” is HERE.
Link to RIM’s response is HERE.
Those organizations that fail to be passionate about the customer’s experience will find customers have no passion for them. It’s happened for BlackBerry…let’s just hope someone with the smarts and attitude of the writer will find a way to change the corporate culture to save the organization before it’s too late.
How about you…and your business?
Again, the customer ALWAYS wins…
Two stories in today’s New York Times struck me as bellwether examples of why customers — in the long run — ALWAYS win.
Story one — Leo Apothaker is out, Meg Whitman is in at HP.
Obviously, there are multiple reasons why this occurred. However, note this important part of the story, “The uncertainty about the future of the PC business also created uneasiness among the company’s big corporate customers, causing concern among H.P.’s board that it could contribute to weakness in its PC sales.”
Story two — More offices are now letting workers choose their devices
Over the years, I have had many people tell me…as I am hooking up my MacBook before a speech, or even years ago when I was using a PowerBook…that they, too, would switch to Apple, if only the corporate IT office would let them.
As the Times’ article states, “Throughout the information age, the corporate I.T. department has stood at the chokepoint of office technology with a firm hand on what equipment and software employees use in the workplace.”
However…eventually…the customer ALWAYS wins, whether he or she is an external — or internal — customer.
(You may be saying an internal customer doesn’t always win — there’s lots of times you have to put up with something on your job you dislike. My point is that you can win — you either are less productive, because you think you aren’t receiving compelling leadership (which means the company loses) — or, you can choose to quit and work elsewhere (which means the company has lost productivity in training your replacement, and incurs the costs associated with such a change) — either way, you, the internal customer, has control.)
Kraft Foods, for example, is now providing stipends to employees, and THEY get to choose whatever laptop they desire from an Apple Store, BestBuy…or wherever!
Now, here’s where it gets REALLY interesting. What this means is companies that have connectivity with regular people — typical consumers — are selling more devices. Those companies focused on B-to-B sales with IT departments and less on the individuals who would actually be USING their devices — think RIM’s BlackBerry or Dell — are losing sales.
At a Cisco meeting I was addressing a couple years ago, CEO John Chambers held up his iPad and said, “This is the first Apple product I’ve ever used at work.” Ted Schadler, an analyst with Forrester Research, agrees in the Times’ article, saying, “What broke the camel’s back was the iPad, because executives brought it into the company and said ‘Hey, you’ve got to support this.’”
At every presentation, and in my books, I ALWAYS try to convey that it is much, much easier to talk and write about an Ultimate Customer Experience ® than it is to actually create and deliver one — internally AND externally — at your organization.
Because…sooner or later…the customer ALWAYS wins.
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