Riddle Me This: those tricky techies...

You know what the best thing about tech companies is? Why their technology, of course. So riddle me this: What's the worst thing about tech companies?

Ah, you've heard this one. Yep, it's a trick question. Their damn technology. Of course! But why?

Because they're focused on the technology. Not the customers and the market so much.

As soon as you've hit on a winning piece of technology that can do this, that, the other thing and then some, call a marketer right then. It needn't be me (but I'll take your call). Just enlist a "marketing type" at the beginning of the product cycle. We really add a lot of value at that point, too.

Many times building the business and marketing model after the technology is primed and polished can work. To be sure, you need a product before you can market it. But once you've got a product, or even a strong concept, that's the time to be thinking about the outside (the market) as much as the inside (the cool code).

I love working with smart, lightning-fast tech companies. It's just that because I'm on the consulting side I work many different companies at a time. And there's one commonality that's as true now as it was when I started working with tech co's years ago: Tech companies need to think marketing a lot more--and a lot sooner in.

It truly is your critical success factor (and my want is for you to succeed). These days the competition is too fierce, the customers too savvy, and the first impression too vital. I once told a client if every tech company was as focused on marketing as they are on tech, well, then we'd have a lot of apples.

Comments

[vaspers the grate aka Pluto the Planet]

Tech companies suck because they are inhuman, driven by The Technological Imperative: "what can be made MUST be made, and humanity must submit and adjust to it."

This false premise is what spurs them on.

Something can be done. So they do it. Then they determine what problem it might be hyped as solving, just to sell the crap. The next evil scumbag step is the Guy Kawasaki "Don't Worry Be Crappy" style of Consumer Fraud marketing: issue a beta version and let the users waste their time and energy doing free usability reviews.

The tech companies have the erroneous notion that "First in the Marketplace" guarantees them the lion's share of the customer expenditures. So they rush to market a flimsy piece of junk, full of bugs and broken functionalities, so they can garner media attention and palm their garbage off on zealous early adaptors.

I used to beta test products. No more. I'm tired of providing free usability testing to these jerks.

Every product must undergo user observation testing, prior to shipping the it.

But tech companies rarely care about users. They even say "I don't care about the newbies and the dummies. I design things in conformity with my dream." ... a dream which to a typical, average skilled user is a literal nightmare of sloppy thinking, poor UI, and bad info architecture.

One thing they forget is to supply satisfied users with graphic clickable buttons the users can add to their blog sidebar or web site, proudly proclaiming their loyalty to the tech product or provider firm.

I usually have to make my own sidebar badges for tech that I like, such as Awasu feed reader, Swicki custom search engine, YouTube director account program, etc.

[CK]

Oh Pluto (aka Vaspers): as usual, you are so gracious to leave such fine practices. I'll be posting on this soon and you're unassailably right...using customers as test subjects is deplorable and insidious.

This was profound and will stay with me:
""I don't care about the newbies and the dummies. I design things in conformity with my dream." ... a dream which to a typical, average skilled user is a literal nightmare of sloppy thinking, poor UI, and bad info architecture."

These things just roll of your brain, eh? It would be irritating if I didn't respect you so much. Damn brainiac bratnick.