If it Walks like a Duck and Talks like a Duck
If you’re an eCommerce leader, work hands on with technology or drive business development, and you’re investing a few seconds to determine if it is worthwhile to read something a field account manager might have to say, let me share why I think it is.
After 20+ years genuinely invested in my customers success while at Gartner, IBM, Forrester and Sterling Commerce, I have learned through thousands of face-to-face conversations the questions most often asked about strategically partnering with a software company, choosing to invest in a provider’s technology or even being stuck with inherited vendor applications.
As I enter my third month at HCLSoftware I have a handful of observations and ideas for you to test out how focused we are on being there for our clients.
It Walks Like a Duck – Software Development
I understand there was a stretch of time when what I’m about to share wasn’t the case and that it is important to you.
HCLSoftware walks like a software company, talks like a software company, and develops application software like a software company. Because it is one.
As I look at this week’s calendar, three of the five days I will be in meetings with clients that include senior HCL leaders in Product Management, Product Development and Sales along with local Technology Advisors. We will be interactively talking about new capabilities in our June release and the current 2-year product roadmap while seeking client input into prioritizing and amending the roadmap as clients’ needs continually evolve as do technology, B2B needs and B2C needs.
Recommended Test
Ask for a meeting with HCL’s senior leaders and watch how quickly and eagerly they engage with you. Need to talk to the technical team? Here’s the chief architect. Want to get some help with implementation? Here’s our services team leader. Then, ask for references of clients already running the most current version of our software.
Walking the Talk – CX and EX
Customer and employee relationships are real and the culture that focuses on both Customer Experience AND Employee Experience is pervasive, not pocketed.
I have never seen such complete cultural focus at every level on both CX and EX. I am going to start with EX. Sir Richard Branson may be as vocal and well-recognized as anyone for so aggressively promoting that a culture that is focused on helping employees be productive and fulfilled is the single best way to drive great customer experience. During a period of transformation, HCL did its own research into who it wanted to be, came to the same conclusion as Branson, and then successfully undertook the change initiatives to implement its new identity. The word “family” is entrenched and embodied here in a way that I have personally never seen.
The EX culture is foundational our focus on delivering great CX. Do we deliver great CX 100% of the time? Of course not – we’re still a company filled with humans. I make mistakes every single day. (Recommended Test: Ask my teenagers.) What I do know is that the focus on CX is genuinely about taking care of customers, because it’s who we are and who we want to be as we engage with our customers every day. There is never talk of shareholders or stock price – only each other and our customers.
Recommended Test
Spend 90 days engaging with HCL as though we are one of your strategic eCommerce partners. What do you have to gain, and what do you have to lose?
