Machines are only as good as their operators.

I don't want to change everything, just everything that matters. 

Every time we encounter challenges, our nature wants to attack, to fix it, to get it back to how it should work - idealism.  How do you capture a moment and take a risk and approach it head-on, with gusto?  Challenge the status quo and see that you can fall down, major success is measured by the difference between costs and profit – that's it.  Roll the dice and make yourself be incredible .

Take yourself out of your role in an organization and see yourself as a part of a machine – the gears, belts engine and power supply are the most critical components.  Be the engine and you stand to gain the power and capability to achieve performance and sustainability, but mend your team.  The gears and drive belts will ensure the speed and production will be optimized and consistent.  Power supply is the financial and origin of all that enables the process to occur. 

Strive to run a machine with regular maintenance.  Take a look at each tool and make sure your support and maintenance provides a consistent, proactive stance to make sure you machines are shipping' the goods. 

Change your way you ask the question – how will we make sure my machine is being operated by the best people, not just the best parts. That is how We will prosper . That's the variable you can control and will make the most considerable difference.  Then keep em on their toes – be agile, ready, plan and adapt to the way the waves fall. 

Happy Trails.

James Dobbs
jdobbs@qualtrax.com

Lessons learned from BP

Every Company can learn some critical lessons from the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico caused by an offshore rig.  Not just the obvious lessons from a regulatory, safety and quality standpoint - but more about how to plan for the worst, train the best and hope for a par on every hole. 

1.  Plan for the Worst

How do you plan?  Be honest with the process.  Do you have a product and industry-specific plan?  Is it based upon collective, team-oriented, cross-functional feedback and expertise?  Or, is it mostly a hunch?  Is it based upon evidence form the market, research from experts?  Is it based upon a ranking, prioritized list of ways we can add value, reduce risk and maximize potential?  What about customer success?

2.  Train the Best. 

Hire the best, but train everyone like they can be better.  I believe most people can be great if they are surrounded by the right leadership, the right team and motivation to improve.  Reality is most people show up to work wanting to be somewhere else.  Get rid of them and empower the people who don't just show up but work hard and smart, that take risks and have a mindset of adding value. 

3.  Shoot for par. 

The premise is to set realistic goals.  Don't say that a start-up will make $100m/yr in year 3.  It's not likely and you would be better off hoping to still be in business and floating even, with sufficient cash on hand for 6 months.  Also, don't shoot for birdies on every hole unless your willing to take a bogey here and there.  Easier said than done right? 


Customer Success is hard to measure.  Great training is hard to deliver and experience a return.  Goals are hard to set and achieve. 


It all comes back to the theory if you build great products and they solve challenges, you will be fine.  Here's my attempt to qualify that measurement with some ideas for capturing this data and ensuring customer success ownership.

Give someone the responsibility for collecting, proactively, the end-user value through regular contact in a feedback loop connecting the product, marketing and sales.  Next, tell that person that he/she is empowered to teach the customer how to maximize the ways they leverage the software through creative collaboration with their team.  What other challenges can we fold the tools into solving?  You bought a tool, is it able to effectively address your expectations you had before you bought it, post-sale, through implementation and adoption and maturity usage stages? 

Use the feedback with research and share it with everyone who would benefit.  Internally, share that information with sales and marketing to contribute to successful ways to scale sales opportunities, capitalize on trends, investigate communication and marketing strategies and shorten sales cycles.

Happy Marketing,
JD