The Key 'Job to be Done' With Customers

Jeff Bezos's focus on consumers above shareholders has at times vexed Wall Street. But smart investors have stayed with his company. In 16 years as the CEO of Amazon, the online retail giant he created Bezos has delivered industry adjusted shareholder returns of 12,266% and the value of the company has grown by $111bilion.

Bezos recently spoke with HBRs editor in chief Adi Igatius and in response to the question 'What have you learned about leadership from running what has become a very big company?' his answer provided a telling insight into what Amazon considers it's key 'Job to be done' with customers

If you’re inventing and pioneering, you have to be willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time. One early example is customer reviews. A book publisher told me, “You don’t understand your business. You make money when you sell things. Why do you allow negative reviews?” And I thought, “We don’t make money when we sell things; we make money when we help customers make purchase decisions.”

This observation mirrors FranklinCovey's philosophy that the purpose of our interaction with customers is not about pitching them our services, or convincing them to buy our products, but is rather about enabling a decision that is in their own best interest. To do this effectively, we work with sales teams to ensure they are clear on what this decision is and then what are the key beliefs a customer would need to have to inform their thinking. Having thought this through, they are then in a better position to provide proof points as to how their proposed solution will exactly meet their clients needs.