#leadbyshaan

Being a leader and being a visionary go hand in hand. Every organization starts with a vision to get somewhere in the future. However, this vision can often be dynamic in nature and can constantly keep getting modified. It is the job of a leader to provide the organization with a direction to move in order to move closer to the desired vision. Visionary leaders provide immense motivation to an organization’s employees as they enable the organization to realize its full potential and see where they can reach. It is important to always have the bigger picture in mind while taking care of smaller goals.

A good leader and more importantly a visionary leader is one who can help the organization reach its vision and objectives. Read on to understand my take on some of the key traits of a visionary leader. 

  1. Excellent Communicators You might be a having an excellent futuristic vision of your organization or team. But, a good vision does not mean anything if it is not efficiently communicated to the members of the organization. Good leaders will often use their charismatic nature to help the members of the organization visualize the objectives of the organization better and understand the bigger picture.

  2. Risk Factor Be it a small scale project or a large scale program, there is always an element of risk. A true visionary always keeps the risky factors in mind while planning the growth path of his org. A good visionary must be able to gauge the situation and take calculated risks to move towards the vision. 

3. Maintaining a Healthy Balance Between Action and Vision While having a vision is one of the most crucial aspects for an organization, taking action and delegating tasks to the appropriate employees is equally important. The balance between the two is created by effective communication between the leader and the employees regarding what to do and how to get closer to the vision. This, in turn, requires the leader to have a good understanding of his team and their abilities. Knowing the factors that motivate his team will enable him to act on the company’s vision better. An employee can only realize their peak performance in a work environment that is conducive to their growth. Having a positive and stress-free work environment will enable your vision to become more realistic and achievable to your employees. It will also allow the members to push their creative limits and come up with more ways to move towards the vision. 

4. Immense Charisma and Enthusiasm Visionary leaders are required to always keep their charisma and enthusiasm high. Their eyes should be always set on the goal and the bigger picture. They should be willing to come up with new ways to attain their goals even if some of them fail to work out. After all, they are a leader and have the ability and power to make important decisions. A person of this position should be able to constantly inspire their co-workers and keep their morale high, especially when dealing with tough situations involving external pressures.

Conflict is something that we all feed on, especially in corporate workplaces. It is a universal virtue that comes across when you are dealing with different people. We all know that all people are not the same; neither can they be expected to be the same. When a leader leads a complex project or works on drafting an organization growth plan, he works with multiple teams spread across multiple regions. Multiple brains result in multiple opinions and more conflicts. As a leader, taking appropriate actions to salvage a situation of conflict at the earliest is the best way to move forward

Here is my attempt to write down some tips that help us to manage conflict better

1. Take a step back – introspect

If you feel attacked by someone’s behavior toward you, first, take action back and calm yourself down. Maybe you have been at fault or not, and perhaps that person has not put out his feedback in the most appropriate way, it does not mean you also jump the gun and begin a brawl. First, introspect. Ask yourself if you had anything to do with the problem at hand? Are they addressing the issue or making it personal? Are they complying with the business etiquette and code of conduct of your organization? Even if all the above questions are in your favor, try and be amicable and respectful. Just because you understand the right way to behave, it does not mean everyone does. Emotions rule people. Ensure you make them understand that while their point is well taken, it could have been put across in a more approachable and dignified manner.

2. Don’t shoot from the hip

It is a standard term that many leaders before us have tried to imbibe as an organizational culture in terms of handling conflict. You are a professional at work, not a cowboy that if you don’t like something you will simply shoot. What do we mean by that?

When in conflict, always set a meeting with the concerned person. Don’t do this while you both are still in the zone of conflict mentally. Allow some time to pass and let each other cool off. It is not essential that you have to say something right there and then to make matters worse.

Once emotions do not rule you, set a meeting with that person. First, address his concern. Realize where he is coming from and what it is that he is trying to convey. Put that out of the way by resolving the issue at hand. Lastly, give him/her feedback on his sudden outburst.

3. Understand that conflict is natural, not personal

Understand that when you are working with individuals who are equally or more intellectually leveled as you are, there are going to be conflicts and differences in opinions. Don’t treat conflict as an enemy that should not happen. Embrace conflicts to be default as long as they are healthy.

Someone disagreeing with you doesn’t necessarily mean he/she is attacking you personally. It can just mean they have a different, and sometimes that viewpoint might be a better one than yours. The more open you are to people holding conflicting opinions than yours, the more transparent and free people will be with you. Most of the time, conflicts give rise to great organizational successes.

Wrap up

Recently I met one of my very good friends’ who is currently working as a CRM Consultant. He shared a very interesting story about how one of the CRM projects he worked went for a toss in just three months and eventually got scrapped. While we talked in length about the possible reasons what could have triggered it, three distinct things came up which had led to the failure of the project.

Read on to understand our take on why a CRM project could fail?

1. Lack of goal:

When a salesperson or consultant talks about CRM or tries to highlight the benefits it can bring, all key stakeholders of an organization get really excited thinking all the existing problems of an organization will easily be addressed by the CRM Suite. As a consequence, they never set a goal. Lack of clear goals results in an aimless project and eventually leads to failure. Organizations first need to figure out the business problems that need to be addressed via CRM. Once those are identified then proceed to talk to the vendors. Use that list of goals while you negotiate with your vendor for the best CRM Suites. The proper goal can help the organization to do proper planning and ensure CRM Success.  An important note to consultants. If you are not sure about the goals, ask about that. Ask again, ask as much as you want, but make sure you understand the required outcome before starting to work on the project.

2. Fewer Stakeholder engagements:

The other and second most crucial factor which determines the fate of a CRM project is the commitment from key stakeholders. Corporate management must be visibly and vocally committed to the CRM effort. They must approve the budget, provide resources, and engage with end-users to ensure that the CRM project gets the right attention and support that is required for success. However, it is often noticed that soon after engaging the consulting team, they don’t pay much attention to the project needs and get involved in other activities.

In addition to top management, the people who will use the CRM software system have to be engaged and committed to it as well. There is no point in implementing a CRM solution with the user having zero knowledge or idea about the reason for the same. So educate your user to get the best out of CRM.

Project managers must adopt an incremental way of development, Share weekly updates with all stakeholders. Build MLP (Minimum Lovable Product ), do all things possible to ensure that your stakeholders are engaged with the project.

3. Inefficient software:

The last and the final one is the software you are going to use. I love giving this example always. You either need a ship or vessel or a boat to cross a water body and your choice of transport depends on how large the water body is and how much distance you have to cross. Similarly, for a CRM project, your choice should be based on your organization's goal. Multiple CRM vendors in the market can offer you a solution. However, not all are equipped enough to address your organizational goal. Business houses need to do a thorough analysis of the CRM products before finalizing the deal. Keep in mind to seek inputs about SLA, Warranties, Support plan, etc. Remember, the more simpler it is, the more easier it is to understand for the end-user, hence unless it is required, don’t go for overweight products.

To wrap it up, as per CIO magazine, around one-third of all customer relationship management (CRM) projects fail. So be extra careful before handling a CRM Project. Keep in mind these crucial factors while working on them. After all, you never want your project to fail right?

Thanks to,

CIO Magazine

I ordered some items online through a recently launched mobile app. Unfortunately; the order was not delivered on time. I tried to raise a ticket or want to chat with an executive, but unable to find any way to do that via the app. Then I tried to look for their customer care numbers but found that too is non-functional. Then I went to their website, filled in their contact us form and received a call later that evening from their sales team. When I shared my problem with the caller, he said, it’s not his problem and I have to write to their support team to complain. Imagine the amount of pain I have been through just to lodge a complaint.

This is not a one-off case. With all due respect to our start-up fraternity, customer relations is something where majority of start-up players are lagging big time. As the start-up culture is growing, the need for a good CRM system is also growing at an equal pace.  The key question is “How badly a start-up needs a CRM? Can it survive without CRM?”  

As a CRM enthusiast, I feel that it is very important to understand why a startup should invest some time and money to build their CRM practice. Let’s start with this obvious question that, might come to the mind of a start-up founder.

“But we have a full-fledged Sales/Marketing team. Why we need a team and tool for CRM”

The answer is simple. Old Marketing model, which we also called the Transactional

Marketing model is just not fit for today’s age because to me, transaction marketing is something that typically focuses on sales showcases the product or services offered. Which in a way does not generally produce great customer relationships?  

Now that the economy is evolving and as technology progresses, no wonder our customer base is also changing. Day by day they are getting more up to date and tech-savvy. They want everything on their fingertips. They are aware of what is happening in and around them. And thanks to the internet, they are now checking the online review of the product and services before deciding the final vendor for a particular product. With various social media platforms available, customer reviews are posted everywhere.  This evolving nature of customers is resulting in fierce competition among the business houses. Be it product-based companies or service-based companies, every single salesperson out there in the market is trying to overpower their rivals in some way or the other. As you realize that the crux of the market has shifted from sellers to buyers, it is evident why the marketing model also needs to be changed. And needless to say, this marketing evolution has strengthened the concept of Relationship Marketing (also called CRM). As someone rightly said, “CRM is the most evolved version of Marketing.” Unlike transactional marketing, CRM primarily focuses on customer retention.

To me here are some of the key reasons why a start-up should embrace CRM sooner than later.

·         It helps to put the customer at the heart of your business strategy.

·         It also allows you the time to concentrate on other areas of your business, as you know that the CRM software system is keeping you and your team up-to-date and fully aware of your customers’ needs.

·         It is a centralized place for storing data and provides a full, accurate record of a rep’s entire interaction history with a prospect that’s accessible with one click.

·         Furthermore, it has the ability to do analysis and help you predict future sales, etc and the historical data provides valuable insight into future client behavior.

I joined PEGA back in 2009 and one of the best experiences that I received so far, is the knowledge about how a perfect blend of solid technical experts and realistic product roadmaps can help to realize the company's vision. To successfully roll out a product to market, one must have the right set of the talent pool in the team. Having said that, it is also important to have the right roadmap set for them, so that they can effectively contribute towards the success journey. Creating a product road map is very important and holds the key to success. My tips on how to plan perfect (well near perfect) product roadmaps. Read on

Be prepared before launch: Whenever a product is designed, it is done so with a vision. Depending upon the vision, you can formulate the strategy of marketing the same. Your strategy must comprise of elements like your vision, key features of the product and target set of customers.

Convincing storytelling: Are you ready to deliver an elevator pitch about the product? Are you ready to convince the sharks in the market to invest in your idea? These are some of the attributes that one needs to take care of when they plan to launch a brand new product in the market. It is very important to explain the investors, how the product is going to look like or how is it going to help various personas. The product route map must adhere to a well-knit storyline depicting the vision, purpose, and utility of the product. It should tell the entire path of the product development cycle starting from ideation until the marketing phase.

Must deny the wrong: You cant deliver a submarine and ship at one shot as a single product line even though both of them are meant to travel through the water. Jokes apart, at times, the stakeholders get so overwhelmed that they end up demanding outcomes like this. Preparation of the product roadmap must have the involvement of various stakeholders, but, you must have the ability to deny any suggestion which is not streamlining the product development cycle. It is far better to say NO than giving false commitments.

Prioritize goals over features: Very important to me at least. Give your goal greater priority than to the features of the product. Features of the product must support your goal behind the development of the product.

Select the right indices: You must select the right metrics and indices or KPIs to judge the journey quality of your product. The metrics must be governed by your goals. In the case of agile products, velocity is one such important parameter that you should always take into consideration while working on the roadmap. Its good to be optimistic, but being over-optimistic can ruin your entire timeline. So define the important KPI that you will measure from time to time during the product journey and share the report with all stakeholders.  

To wrap it up, don't add too many details to your roadmap. It must cover all the important aspects of the product crisply and comprehensively. Remember, a Product Roadmap is the key to Strategy in Branding and Business Development to boost the marketing and sales volume of your product.

 Inspired by,

PO(s) @Pega