Jane Olson and I had the opportunity to attend the User Group Summit the first week of November. As mentioned in last quarter’s issue, we are the publisher for the AXUG®, CRMUG®, GPUG®, and NAVUG™ magazines, and our presence at the event was aimed at gathering content for the User Groups’ winter magazine issues.
While there, I sat in on a Town Hall session that featured a panel of Microsoft Dynamics team members. The questions ran the normal gamut from feature requests to release date inquiries.
I don’t quite remember how we landed on the topic, but the conversation turned to customer/Partner relationships.
Actually, now that I think about it, I think one of the Microsoft panelists was talking about an online tool. When the panelist asked who had previously heard about the tool from their Partner, not many customers raised their hands.
That’s when the conversation turned…southwest. Not totally in the ditch, but close.
A customer stood and shared her feedback that she is not receiving the communication she needs from her Partner. Another stood and shared his frustration that he gets too much information from his Partner. Another said he doesn’t want to go through a Partner and would prefer to have access to tools directly from Microsoft.
Finally a Partner stood and shared her perspective on the challenges of working with customers and finding the balance of a good working relationship.
And that’s what it really comes down to…finding that balance.
As I interviewed Mark Albrecht, director of ISV strategy at Microsoft, for The Partner Channel Interview this issue, we discussed the Town Hall dialogue as he was a panelist positioned right in the midst of the discussion.
During our conversation, Mark used the analogy of shopping for a vehicle to the customer/Partner relationship. When you’re out there looking for a new vehicle, you likely have more questions, seek the input of experts, and welcome their suggestions. After you make your purchase, your mind shifts to maintenance, and your interactions with the expert change. While you’re driving that car, that expert is pretty far removed from your thoughts except when it comes to oil changes and routine maintenance. But then one day you start thinking about a new car, and that expert slides a little closer to the front of your mind.
When you start working with a customer, you start with a clean slate. Everything you do after that initial meeting is written on that slate, and let’s be honest, sometimes things don’t go as planned. Projects slip, consultants quit, and customers change their minds a thousand times. That slate starts to look a little less polished and perfect.
After the implementation, customers are back to focusing on their business, you are on to the next project (or focusing on one of the other projects you have been juggling for months), and your final move is to figure out the balance of your new post-sale relationship.
Your organization may have mechanisms set up for keeping in touch with that customer post-sale. You might be a project master and have workflows, reminders, and tasks set up to remind you to touch base with your customers. You might be winging it, and so far that’s worked just fine.
My question to you: in these mechanisms, your own processes, or while winging it, have you talked to your customers about when they want to hear from you, what they want to hear about, and who from their organization should receive the news?
Maybe the answer is yes, but based on the commentary from those who stood in that Town Hall session and the number of nods from those still seated, I’m thinking there’s still some work to do.
The mission of The Partner Channel is to provide sales, marketing, and leadership-focused publications and events for you, Microsoft Dynamics Partners, so that you can apply these best practices to your organizations to make them even better.
That doesn’t mean we’re perfect. Believe me, there have been plenty of times when our monthly newsletter goes out in the final seconds of the last day of the month (my fault) or an email goes unanswered for a period of time (also my fault), but if there is just one thing you take away from this article and this issue, I hope that it’s figuring out that balance.
Talk with your customers. Ask them what they’re interested in and what to avoid. Find out what you can do to best serve them, because, unfortunately, if you don’t, there’s likely somebody else out there who will try.
I’d love to attend the Town Hall discussion next year and have somebody stand up, talk about the great things his/her Partner is doing, and see the nods of those still seated.
I don’t think it’s a pipe dream. Let’s not make it one.
If you and your organization have figured out the balance, please contact me at 701-526-3454 or Jenny@thepartnerchannel.com to share your story.
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