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We're moving so fast - light speed at times. In customer success we have to make so many micro-decisions that at times we can operate on autopilot. Think about a recent customer interaction you had. How did you respond to it? You probably relied on instinct based on your previous knowledge or processes and policies that your company has in place. You may not remember half of what you said. In most situations, that's fine. But this of course doesn't always work - especially where customers don't agree with your response. The challenge is recognizing when you have entered a special situation. A moment when your decision will make or break your client relationship. These are what I call moments of truth. Think of these situations like the butterfly effect where a small action will change the future. I will try and help you identify these moments of truth and provide recommendations so you can act appropriately. First let me tell you about my own wakeup call.You can make a mistake, but how will you recover?Going back a few years now I was in the depths of hell handling several client contract negotiations during the initial stages of the Covid crisis. I will be honest here - it was one of my most challenging times as a CS leader. As it was still early in the pandemic, it was difficult to understand the impact this would have on our customers. Different customers were experiencing the pandemic differently and I had to make decisions quickly based on sparse pieces of information. The main issue was that I had too many items coming at me from all directions. It didn't take long until I made a colossal mistake that could have had larger repercussions.One of our clients was starting to see an uptick in their business but they needed help. They needed to add licenses to help their team so they could better assist their own customers. Moving at the speed of light I coached my customer success manager to follow our process and offer our clients a solution based on our stated policies. The challenge was that this solution didn't fit the client's needs and would be costly. I didn't realize it, but I was in a moment of truth, and I failed miserably. The client had no choice but to proceed and when the dust settled, they took the time to let me know that they weren't happy with what transpired. They felt that we could have been more customer-centric and they were right. This was the wakeup call I needed, and I can't express my appreciation enough to this client. After thanking them for their feedback I quickly reversed course. I obtained the necessary approvals to provide a better solution that made more sense in this situation. Reflecting on this time, I realized that we should have pushed the pause button and considered the situation from the client's perspective. Our policies were valid but didn't account for the unique crisis we were in. We needed to consider the client's business needs and go outside the lines of our established policies. This was our moment of truth and something I now constantly remind myself of.Defining moments of truthWhile I love Wayne McCulloch's book The Seven Pillars of Customer Success, I disagree with how he defined moments of truth. He used this definition: “Anytime the customer comes into contact with any aspect of a company, however remote, he or she has an opportunity to form an impression”. He referred to a moment of truth as any time a customer interacts with you. My definition is different. It was something that a former executive at Eloqua, Alex Shootman, had instilled in me years ago. I define a moment of truth as: “a critical interaction in the customer journey when the action(s) your company takes will determine if the client remains a long-term customer.” Therefore, this isn't just any type of engagement. This moment will shape the future of your customer relationship.How do you know it's a moment of truth?As I mentioned, it can be challenging to realize that you are in that make or break situation with a client. Here are some signs that can tell you that you are in a moment of truth:The customer tells you. This is the easiest situation of all to recognize because your customer will very explicitly tell you that your future relationship is hinging on how you handle the current predicament. They may also tell you that they are very upset with how a situation was handled. This could revolve around a critical bug, a missing feature, the price of a renewal or several other circumstances. In some situations, clients will bypass you and express how they feel on social media and in online communities. While it's easy to recognize that this is a moment of truth, it's still not easy to resolve.In some situations, it's recommended that someone such as a customer success manager qualify how dire the situation is. I like to use qualification questions such as: “From 1-5 with 1 being the most important, how critical is this item for you?”. In other situations, such as the story I shared, it isn't needed. I knew my client well enough to recognize the severity of the situation and that they were right. If the client takes the time to tell you that they feel you messed up, you need to address the situation quickly and handle it delicately. The client is very emotional. The client may not outright tell you that they will stop doing business with you, but you can tell from their mannerisms that they are unhappy or angry and at a breaking point. In these situations, it's best to label the emotion so the client can communicate how they are feeling. For example, you can reflect on what the client said: “It seems that you are very upset”. You can then add if it makes sense: “How do you recommend we resolve this issue?” In these situations, you need to slowwwww down so you can take in the customer's perspectives. Ask yourself these questions:Why is the customer feeling this way? What is impacting them or their business right now that may be causing this?How would I want to be treated if I was the customer?What has happened previously that may be impacting how they are reacting?Are our current processes and policies adequate for the exact situation we're in right now?Is what the client is asking for unreasonable?By asking yourself these questions you have paused long enough to turn off your autopilot and think through your actions. I also recommend going for a walk. If you have any doubts as to how you have acted or how you plan to act, pull a colleague aside and walk them through the situation. Ask them for their advice on how they would handle this. Ask them for feedback on your planned course of action. Getting a second opinion can prevent the wrong action or help get things back on track. The client goes silent. When you are experiencing a moment of truth, you have a brief period to identify and rectify the situation. If it's not handled correctly, you may have a client go dark on you. This is typically a clear sign that you failed to act appropriately from their perspective. It's best to acknowledge that so you can move forward. I had a situation where the CSM-client relationship had deteriorated but I hadn't noticed it quickly enough. They had kept pushing off meetings and were ignoring my reach outs. I asked for a brief call and said that the conversation was of a sensitive nature and could only be done by phone. After some additional prodding, the client agreed to meet, and I told them that we needed to do better. I recommended a path forward and asked them for their input. They agreed to my plan, and we were able to repair the relationship. This was lucky but it was only when I realized that this was a moment of truth and that I had to force the situation or risk losing the client forever.Your moment of truthI want you to think back again on recent conversations you've had with your customers or anyone for that matter. Did you face a moment of truth? How did you handle the situation? Would you approach things differently now that you saw the consequences of your actions?Consider client relationships that may be on the rocks or past interactions that you should have handled differently. What changes can you make to rectify these situations? What changes will you make when you experience another moment of truth? This is your moment of truth. What will you do? This is a public episode. 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Alex Shootman shares the important lessons that cycling and the highs and lows of raising children have taught him about work.
Heidi Melin is the Chief Marketing Officer at Workfront which provides a work management application platform for the enterprise. She has been a remote leader for years and shares her first-hand experiences and recommendations. Heidi has seen how companies that understand their workflow have been able to pivot quickly and be less impacted by current conditions as well as be prepared to adapt as situations improve. KEY TAKEAWAYS [1:00] The COVID-19 virus has taken us out of our working norms. [3:45] Is remote working easy?! [4:35] How Heidi views the Future of Work and the accelerating effect of work-from-home restrictions. [5:35] Heidi has had a front-row seat in seeing which companies pivot successfully to remote work and adjust processes to keep their businesses going. [7:00] Organizations can distribute work successfully to an entire remote workforce leveraging a combination of tools, including Workfront’s work management software. [7:20] What kind of behaviors do employees need to adapt to? [9:50] You CAN establish a strong personal connection with someone you only met via video! [11:44] Being empathetic about mandated work-from-home situations. [14:55] Heidi has been working mostly remotely at Workfront, successfully leading and managing her office-based team, for over two years. [16:20] Heidi shares her remote working best practice tips! [20:55] How to help people who get distracted when working from home? [22:42] The importance of flexibility and focusing on outcomes. [23:54] Why it matters to have visibility into the work being done at any organization. [26:15] How does Workfront’s work management platform help remote employees? [27:25] It’s difficult for a leader to make strategic decisions without a holistic view of the work being done. [28:38] What ability will enable companies to emerge from this crisis most successfully? [31:20] How can teams get productive work done right now? [31:38] How do you own your own resilience? [36:00] It’s critical to understand how work moves through the organization. Then you can adapt the ‘in-person’ aspects of previous work processes quickly. [38:18] How Signet Health has accelerated the clinic trials for a COVID-19 vaccine. RESOURCES Workfront.com Heidi on LinkedIn Done Right: How Tomorrow's Top Leaders Get Stuff Done by Alex Shootman QUOTES “We’re having to adapt, today, to managing a remote workforce and the companies who have been able to pivot most successfully had a vision for the future of work.” “We have the tools and infrastructure to do remote work, but it’s the behavior piece that requires some adapting to.” “As companies look at which work they need to prioritize and which work they do not need to prioritize. That gets hard. If you don’t have a holistic view of the work being done in the organization, how can you make those trade offs?”
When I interviewed Alex Shootman, CEO Done Right I had some open questions, based on my review from the beginning of the year. This was my opportunity to get answers. There are useful insights and an update that will prove invaluable for people trying to discover what 'modern work' means and how leaders can make work a rewarding experience.
Subscribe to Modern Marketing Engine Apple Podcasts |Stitcher |Google Play | Google Podcasts The modern business landscape has changed - and that change is constant. It's imperative that business leaders, sales professionals and marketing teams lead the way in getting stuff done effectively. This episode features Alex Shootman, CEO of Workfront. Workfront is considered by many to be the first modern work management application that connects enterprise work, collaboration, and digital content into an Operational System of Record (OSR). As CEO, Alex drives the overall strategy, vision, and execution of the company, ensuring that Workfront is a dedicated partner in helping its customers transform the modern work experience. Alex is the author of a new book titled "Done Right," which is the main topic of this episode. The book is an interactive roadmap for next-generation leaders who need to get things done - from setting strategy to stakeholder buy-in to navigating roadblocks and taking action to get stuff done. This podcast show is about modern marketing, so Bernie wanted to dig into the specifics of the role of the modern marketer in the ever-changing business environment. Alex says that marketers have the opportunity to be leaders in modern business transformation. Specifically, he says that marketers need to come to the table with business acumen so that they can play a critical role in everything from product creation to product delivery - and directly impact the bottom line. Join Bernie and Alex for this conversation to gain insights into the things that make marketers - and all stakeholders - an indispensable part of the modern business. Learn Powerful Lessons From The Masters Of Modern Work In writing his book, “Done Right,” Alex made it his goal to glean the best practices for getting things done from 30 of his customers who have a track record of getting things done in spite of the complexity of their organization or business environment. They were asked, “How do YOU get things done?” Alex considers their responses to represent the best-practices in a modern company with a workforce that is engaging in digital transformation. Each chapter in the book is a principle learned from these “Masters of Modern Work” with accompanying stories and actionable artifacts at the end of each chapter readers can use to take action. Can you imagine how helpful those responses can be to you? Join Bernie and Alex for this great conversation! How Marketers Can Become Heroes In The Modern Business Marketing professionals can be right in the middle of their company’s digital transformation. How? By contributing to revenue. It’s a tall order, but one that Alex explains, on this episode. Modern companies that are transforming to work within the new digital environment need to communicate with customers in personalized, relevant, and consistent ways. Marketers can take a central place in making that happen by working alongside product, technology, sales/distribution and customer service teams. The reason the marketing team plays such a pivotal role is because they understand the customer. When the modern marketer shows up with good business acumen, he/she is stepping up to drive the business forward through workplace initiatives that call for effective use of the principles Alex outlines in his book Done Right. Modern Business Leaders Must Be Able To Effectively Communicate A Clear WHY When asked for his final thoughts on this podcast episode, Alex Shootman says that the main thing modern business leaders need to embrace is consistently and effectively communicating the REASONS behind why they exist as a company. A clearly articulated vision of WHY - to employees, the Board, the customer, and anyone who comes in contact with the company - is the most important factor in motivating people to getting things done. You really need to listen to this podcast episode. Alex gives us a glimpse of the insights from his conversations with 30 of the most effective business leaders whose practices form the basis of his inspiring book “Done Right.” Featured on This Episode Alex Shootman on Linkedin Alex on Twitter: @Shootman Workfront - the company where Alex serves as CEO www.DoneRightBook.com BOOK: Done Right Outline of This Episode [1:16] Why Bernie invited Alex Shootman, CEO of Workfront to be on the show [3:14] The question that inspired Alex to write his book: How do you get things done in the modern work environment? [4:34] Who are the masters of modern work? [7:58] How does the modern marketer benefit from reading “Done Right?” [12:36] Practical helps that come directly from the book: Digital Artifacts [14:11] The collegiate curriculum at Eccles Business School derived from the book [16:57] The kind of response Alex is receiving from readers of the book [22:51] THE most important thing: Communicate your WHY clearly Resources & People Mentioned Salesforce Workday Paige Erickson Dean Randall, Dean of the Eccles Business School The Selling With Social Podcast with Vengreso CEO, Mario Martinez, Jr Connect With Bernie and Modern Marketing Engine https://www.facebook.com/socialbusinessengine/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernieborges/ https://twitter.com/bernieborges https://instagram.com/bernieborges https://twitter.com/sbengine Subscribe to Modern Marketing Engine Apple Podcasts |Stitcher |Google Play | Google Podcasts There are TWO WAYS you can listen to this podcast. You can click the PLAYER BUTTON at the top of this page… or, you can listen from your mobile device’s podcast player through the podcast subscription links above.
Alex Shootman, CEO of Workfront joins us this time as we talk about principals of doing things "The Right Way". Check out his book, Done Right: How Tomorrow's Top Leaders Get Stuff Done. It pulls from over thirty original interviews with experienced leaders across a variety of industries to show how tomorrow's leaders can effectively navigate the modern workforce. "... this notion of getting it done and doing it right-- and mentally, if you think about a two by two grid, with a vertical axis being getting it done in a horizontal axis, being doing it right, it's a notion of ... the vertical axis is low to high. Are you getting it done or are you not getting it done? Doing it right is are you living up to the values of an organization or are you not living up to the values of an organization? It's this notion of if you're not getting it done but not doing it right, it's probably not great place for you. If you're doing it right, but you're not getting it done, you have the values of the organization, but you might need some coaching on how to objectively accomplish the role that you've been given." "If you're getting it done and you're doing it right, you're the person that everybody ought to see their name in lights. The tough one is if you're getting it done, but you're not doing it right, you probably ought to be fired faster than anybody in the organization, because nothing destroys the pursuit of the culture that you want in a company faster than being willing to tolerate people who can accomplish their goals but don't live up to the values of the organization." "What I found over time is I believe people are good and people want to do the right thing. A lot of times they just haven't been given the space to put a premium on values." Learn more at DoneRightBook.com Follow Alex on Twitter @shootman ____________________________ Sales Pipeline Radio is sponsored and produced by Heinz Marketing on the Funnel Radio Channel. Each week at 11:30 am Pacific time (plus 8 hours UTC Time) Matt Heinz interviews the best and brightest minds in sales and Marketing. If you would like to be a guest on Sales Pipeline Radio send an email to: sheena @ Heinzmarketing dot com
Alex has more than 25 years of experience in all areas of revenue and profit generation for technology organizations, with significant experience leading SaaS-based organizations. Currently, Alex is the CEO of Workfront, a SaaS based modern work management platform. Prior to joining Workfront as the CEO, he was the president of Apptio, which was ranked #253 on the Deloitte 500 in 2015 based on the company’s strong growth. Prior to Apptio, Alex was the president of Eloqua, where he was a member of the team that helped bring Eloqua to a successful public offering, subsequently being acquired by Oracle. Alex has also held executive-level positions with Vignette, TeleTech, BMC Software and IBM. Topics Discussed: The Lucky Charms Experience – Personalizing your meetings and messages Sales How to be a great sales person Prospecting When does a Hunter become annoying? How quickly does a C-Suite Executive decide to respond or ignore an outreach? Leadership “Leaders don’t just set goals, they ask their team to live a story worth telling.” – Alex Shootman “The cheapest way to lead is by building a wall around your team saying, “It is us against them” We are good, they are bad. We work hard, they do not. We know the answer, they are stupid.” – Alex Shootman “There are only two types of leaders in this world. There is the leader that somewhere down deep in their core walks in every day thinking, “What will my team do for me today?” and then there is the leader wired right, “What will I do for my team today?” – Alex Shootman Alex’s Bio: 2016 – Present – CEO of Workfront 2014 – 2016 – Board Member Kapost 2013 – 2016 – President of Apptio 2009 – 2013 – President of Eloqua 2006 – 2008 – SVP Sales and Services at Vignette Corporation 2005 – 2006 – EVP Sales & Marketing at TeleTech 1999 – July 2005 – VP Sales & Services at BMC Software 1987 – 1999 – Director Industry Solutions at IBM Share This:
Entering a company as a new CEO can be intimidating. It’s important to set the tone while also respecting the existing culture. Alex Shootman shares his personal experience on stepping into the role as Workfront's CEO.
We welcome Alex Shootman to our leadership show. Alex is the President and CEO of Workfront. He is a seasoned business leader with more than 25 years of experience leading revenue and profit generation for tech organizations. If you like with principle-centered leadership coupled with social innovation, you are going to love this show. Alex is an innovator in the art of leadership. His success in business is a direct result of his ability to develop leaders and build teams. In this podcast, Alex shares unique insight on a number of important leadership topics, including How to develop and lead a sales team The business value of diversity Why middle managers are more empowered than they think How to strategically grow your career And How to avoid common leadership mistakes About Alex Alex holds a BBA in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin. As President and CEO of Workfront, Alex drives the overall strategy, vision, and execution for the company, ensuring that Workfront is a dedicated partner in helping its customers transform the work experience. Shootman brings more than 25 years of experience in all areas of revenue and profit generation for technology organizations, with significant experience leading SaaS-based companies. Prior to joining Workfront, Alex was president of Apptio, where he was responsible for the company’s integrated sales and services functions globally. Prior to Apptio, Alex was the President of Eloqua, where he was responsible for leading the organization’s global sales, customer success, and field operations teams. Alex was integral in leading Eloqua’s category creation as an enterprise SaaS company, and in 2012 was a member of the team that helped bring Eloqua to a successful public offering, subsequently being acquired by Oracle. Shootman has also held executive-level positions with Vignette, TeleTech, BMC Software and IBM. In his free time Alex can usually be found trying to convince his legs that they really don’t hurt on a road bike or running trail, admiring the view from a 14er in Colorado, or down on a reef in his home state of Hawaii. That is if his four kids leave him any free time. We welcome Alex Shootman to Leaders247.
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