The Intersection of People and Process

Why "Time to Renewal" Is the Most Important Metric for Cloud Marketplace Success

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Mon, 19 May 2025 11:00:00 -0700

Let’s get straight to the point: if you’re selling through cloud marketplaces your north star metric should be Time to Renewal (TTR). This is true whether you are an ISV, SI, VAR, VAD, or any other type of partner that is building and selling solutions through cloud marketplaces.

I’ve updated my own partner success metrics to reflect this, and here’s why you should too.

Getting to Revenue Is Not Enough - Predictability and Repeatability Matter

It’s easy to celebrate when a partner lands their first marketplace deal. But if we stop there, we’re missing the bigger picture. Revenue is great, but unless it’s predictable and repeatable, we’re setting ourselves, our partners, and our customers up for failure.

Time to Renewal measures how quickly and efficiently you can move a customer from their initial purchase through to their first renewal - and to every renewal after that. If you can’t make this process smooth and reliable, you risk churn, lost upsell opportunities, and a breakdown in customer trust.

Why Time to Renewal Is Critical

Customer Experience: A shorter TTR means a frictionless renewal process, which directly impacts customer satisfaction. If your renewal process drags on, customers get frustrated and may start looking elsewhere.
Operational Efficiency: Streamlining renewals reduces internal overhead. Automation tools and clear workflows can cut renewal times from weeks to days, freeing up your team for higher-value activities.
Revenue Predictability: Fast, consistent renewals create a steady revenue stream. This predictability is essential for forecasting, planning, and scaling your business.
Marketplace Advantage: Marketplace customers often renew at higher rates due to streamlined procurement and committed budgets. If you can reduce TTR, you’re doubling down on this advantage and maximizing marketplace ROI

How TTR Stacks Up Against Other Metrics

Let’s compare TTR with another popular metric: Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

CLV is important. It tells you how valuable a customer is over time. But here’s the catch: You can’t maximize CLV without nailing renewals. This is especially true when selling through a marketplace.

If your TTR is slow or inconsistent, your CLV projections are just wishful thinking. TTR is the engine that drives CLV upward by ensuring customers keep coming back, renewing, and expanding their spend.

What Happens When You Ignore Time to Renewal?

Churn creeps in: Customers who experience delays or confusion during renewal are more likely to leave.
Lost upsell opportunities: Every renewal is a chance to expand the relationship. A clunky process means missed revenue.
Eroded trust: Transparency and speed build trust. Delays do the opposite
Barriers to Exit: They've never been lower. The customer is in charge when it comes to how and what they spend their budgets.

Bottom Line

If you want your marketplace business to thrive, focus on Time to Renewal. Make renewals fast, seamless, and predictable. This isn’t just a metric - It is the foundation for partner success, customer satisfaction, and long-term growth.

“Getting partners to revenue is fine, but if we can’t make it predictable and repeatable we all fail (ourselves and the customer).”

Let’s stop celebrating one-time wins. Start measuring what matters.

Time to Renewal is the metric that tells you if your marketplace engine is built for the long haul.

This idea and this post was sparked at the recent Ultimate Partner event that Vince Menzione and his team created and hosted on the Microsoft campus.

Ebikes ... I am a fan. I am!

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 08:50:00 -0700

There is a wave spreading across the land.

It's a wave of Ebikes.

Call 'em Ebikes or eBikes or whatever you want. They are here to stay and I'm OK with that.

Initially I didn't like the idea. Then I thought about it and got used to it.

Now I'm a fan.

In my simplest of minds ... anything that gets people outside and enjoying nature is a good thing.

Things I've noticed about Ebikers

As I posted on Twitter in Dec 2020 Link

They must be doing something right!

Observations from the trails:
How can you tell when someone is riding an eBike?
I’ve noticed three things:
1. They are sitting bolt upright
2. They are barely peddling, and
3. They have a huge smile on their face.

As noted ... They must be doing something right!

These are the Pros of Ebikes.

There are also some cons to Ebikes.

Cons of Ebikes

These don't apply to everyone, but there is a growing number of riders that either never learned the rules of the road and trails ... or they forgot. I'd like to think they aren't willfully disregarding them.

My recommendations

Slow Down! too many people go WAY too fast.
Shout It Out! Along with going fast ... far too many eBikers don't alert people that they are coming up on them. Given they are also going too fast they usually startle the hikers and/or bikers and worse ... horseback riders (on the trails, obviously). Pro Tip: Get a Bell ... and use it.
Say Hello. It won't actually hurt to acknowledge other riders and trail users. Who knows ... you might even get a hello back and you might make a friend too.
15 mph limit - This one is a bit controversial. Trails at 15 miles an hour is plenty fast. Controversial Thought: There should be a governor on the bikes to limit the top speed. If, Ebikes were smart like drones they could put a GPS chip on-board that would know where the bike is and allow for reasonable speeds for the given trail or roadway. My thinking ... Let them go fast when needed (on streets?), but keep 'em at a reasonable speed on trails.

Why do I suggest this? It's simple physics. Ebikes weigh 50-60 pounds. They usually have large smooth tires. Even with powerful disc brakes that weight and those tires are NOT CONDUCIVE to stopping or avoiding collisions.
ALWAYS wear a helmet and gloves. Is it the law? Who Cares! If you crash ... your hands and brain will appreciate the fact that you spent a few bucks to protect them.

There you have it ...

Ebikes ... I am a fan. I am!

What do you think?
What are your Pros of Ebikes?
What are your Cons of Ebikes?

I suspect we'll see more and more of them in the coming years. As batteries get smaller and more efficient and as prices comes down. There is a pending influx of Ebikes. I hope those that embrace them also embrace the safety aspects of biking. Not just for themselves, but also for all the other riders, hikers, and horseback riders out there.

Enjoy! And, see you on the trails.

Next up: Trail Etiquette 101

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Tags: #SVT #Gravel #GravelGrinding #Bikes #Ebikes #Adventure #Safety
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Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently at Oracle where he works with partners, including Microsoft and Microsoft partners, to create Hybrid Cloud solutions on a global scale.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Partners and Platforms - Building Together - Part 3 of 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 08:43:00 -0700

In every partnership there are four big pillars that need to be addressed in order to successfully launch, build, sell, service, retire, and repeat a product or service offering.

When it's working it can be like listening to a finely tuned and honed orchestra.

When it's not ... it can be like listening to a middle school recital.

There are a lot of ways to orchestrate a partnership. Over the 20+ years I've been doing this I've boiled it down to a few (seemingly) simple things.

While they sound simple on the surface there are nuances as well as twists and turns to insure a partnership is a success.

As noted in the previous 2 parts of this post there are stages to evaluate and execute a successful partner engagement. There are no wrong answers, but there are things that can be done up front to increase the probability of success. The corollary to this is ... you may realize this is NOT a partnership your want to build. After evaluating the partnership with these tools and techniques they may show that the partnership isn't worth pursuing. It's better to make this determination up front before spending all the time and energy required to build out the full partnership.

Partner Maturity Matrix - A model developed by my friend Per Werngren

This is a summary of the full table. You can get the gist here. You can obtain the full table from the IAMCP and from other places. Including another friend, Chaitra Vedullapalli here.

Example Table 1 - Partner Maturity Levels

This table can be used a guidepost to help all parties understand where they are and perhaps where they want to be. There are cases where being a "Basic" partner is plenty. Perhaps the benefits of the platform providers partner program are all the partner needs to build their business. If so, great. Let them. If they need more and/or if the platform provider or other partners want more ... propose something further up the stack.

As noted above ... there are no wrong answers. Choose the model that suits the business needs today. Review a few times a year and adjust accordingly.

For example, a partner might think they are in the "Dynamic" stage. Well, like a lot of things ... both sides need to agree that this is the stage of the relationship. If it's not where one of the parties wants ... open a dialogue and have a conversation about it. Again, there are no wrong answers.

The ultimate goal is to develop realistic partnerships that work for the timeframe being considered. There is nothing wrong with moving up or down the Partner Maturity Matrix. Just as long as all parties are in agreement that the stages match the expectations from both sides.

A more tactical level of detail is provided in the table below with a model I call SMTE.

Which is a simple mnemonic acronym for Sales, Marketing, Technical, and Executive. Where each step can be filled out in as much detail as needed to build the GTM model and set the planning motions in-line with a calendar to insure each step has an owner, actions, a timeline, and expected outcomes.

Sales - How are we going to sell it? A sandwich board saying "Will Code For Food?" or perhaps a more modern marketing campaign that combines social, mobile, and events. This is and area where the TAM and the GTM come into play. What is being sold, to who, and how.
Marketing - How will this product be marketed? See TAM in Part 1 of 3.
Technical - Who's going to build it? Who's going to help? Who's going to support it? Don't forget that someone needs to own this from a technical level and make sure sales efforts before, during, and after the sale are included in the plans. See GTM in Part 1 of 3 and AAR in Part 2 of 3.
Executive - Who is the Executive Sponsor? If there isn't one ... find one or drop the project. While it may not always require an executive level of commitment there should always be someone at an elevated level in the organization that cares about this effort.

Example for multiple products or services. Of course, each block may become it's own document with a lot of additional detail and co-commitments from other teams, partners, and perhaps end customers. Once again, there are no wrong answers or models here. Explore ideas - keep some, toss some, expand some.

Example Table 2 - SMTE Pillars

This is part 3 of a 3 part series in working with partners. Each post covered the additive efforts of partnering - Working Together, Moving Together, and Building Together (this post).

Conclusion

As noted in the Working Together post ... there is no right or wrong way to engage with partners. However, in my 20+ years of working with partners I have found that if you don't have the TAM defined, the ENG support committed, and the GTM plans in place at the beginning you will be fighting an uphill battle.

I hope you enjoyed these posts and thank you for reading. Please let me know your thoughts here in the comments or directly via my social media channels.

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TAGS: #CSAT #PSAT #Partners #SMTE #GTM

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Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Partners and Platforms - Moving Together - Part 2 of 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Wed, 6 Oct 2021 07:10:00 -0700

There are three phases that must be completed in order to drive the ultimate success of any product or service. There are countless ways that each can be accomplished, but they each must be involved ... in order ... for any product lifecycle.

I call them AAR for simplicity.

They are Awareness, Adoption, and Revenue

Awareness
Adoption
Revenue

In the simplest terms if no one knows about your product or service (aka being aware) they'll never be able to try it (adopt it) and never buy it (drive revenue).

This aligns nicely with the Technology Adoption Lifecycle (TALC) espoused by Geoffrey Moore in his seminal work "Crossing the Chasm"

When building a product or service make sure you make plans to consider each step.

If you only focus on the Revenue and ignore the Awareness and Adoption phases you'll never achieve to success you expect or deserve. Sure, there are inevitable edge cases where revenue could come first. Perhaps by someone gifting a product that they really love to you. But, at some point in the product lifecycle the awareness had to happen as did the adoption.

A bit more detail on each is below.

Also, think in terms of lifecycle. There is a need to think short term and there is a need to think long term. Consider AAR in 90 day cycles and also in 18 and 36 month cycles. If you honestly think you'll be out of a market in a shorter time frame ... plan for that. Whether it's a fad you are capitalizing upon or if you think you'll get acquired (it can happen) or something else will shorten your market runway ... plan for it.

Awareness - There is no wrong way to drive awareness. Awareness is just what it sounds like ... helping customers to become aware of your products or services. Use something that makes sense for your business, for your industry, for your style. Whether it's standing on a street corner with a sign board or putting up a billboard in Times Square. If advertising in the public is the way to go ... use it. Other times it's more of a word of mouth effort ... where experts talk with experts. This is where the community effect comes in. Where people "in" the community will have an implicit level of trust with others in the community. Depending on how you plan to go to market you might need to rely on partners to get the word out. The key thing is to decide together with all the partners involved what "awareness" looks like, how it will be obtained, and how it will be measured.
Adoption - As with awareness it's important to agree on what "adoption" means. It could be a pilot project, a funded proof of concept, or a fully deployed solution. Or, it could be a mix of all three and a whole lot more. As you begin it's important to make sure everyone agrees on the definition of awareness and works towards the goals together. Some of the outcomes of adoption can take the form of Customer Evidence. For example, you might seek to be able to use the customers logo and name in your online, print, and event collateral. These are big asks and you may want to start smaller. The critical point with adoption is to deliver what you commit to.
Revenue - The obvious measurement with revenue is just that ... revenue, dollars, cash on the barrelhead. If a customer is willing to dole out funds to try your product you know they have made a commitment and you need to make sure you live up to your commitments you made to them. Beyond revenue ...there might be some intangible elements that can be counted in this category. For example, customer references are invaluable. And, while they cannot be deposited into a bank account they can be critical to drive Awarenes and Adoption ... so that you can get to revenue faster. Again, everyone should agree on what the expectations are for revenue ... and work together to accomplish them.

Measure, Measure, Measure

Every step of the way needs to have metrics aligned with them.

You cannot expect what you do not inspect.

To put some sense to Awareness, Adoption, and Revenue consider aligning each of them as SMART goals. Again, make sure all parties agree on each goal. And, make sure each point can be measured. And, of course, make sure everyone is held accountable.

There are a lot of different ways to assign and align AAR. The point of this post is to put them out there as thinking points as a way to launch any product or service. If you have another model that works for you please share in the comments or loop me into a conversation on social media.

Good luck and good selling!

This is part 2 of a 3 part series in working with partners. The next post covers SMTE.

Part 1 is posted here: Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/partners-platforms-working-together-part-1-3-jeff-shuey

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Tags: #Partners #GTM #GTD #CustEv #CustomerEvidence #WinWires #Awareness #Adoption #Revenue
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Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Partners and Platforms - Working Together - Part 1 of 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Fri, 1 Oct 2021 14:05:00 -0700

How can you best serve partners that want to work with you?

It doesn't matter what type of partner it is. The same base level elements need to be addressed. In the tech world where I have lived and worked for the past 20+ years the partners are typically ISV's, SI's, Learning Partners, Distributors, VAR's, and a few other types I likely missed.

It's a dance. And when done right is seamless. Where the customers get what they want, at the price point they want, and on the time schedule they want. And the partners get what they want ... customers.

It's not easy. It never is. But, when done right it just works.

It is and can be a complex and deep challenge. However, it can be broken down into base level elements.

Of course, those base level elements can be expanded upon once both parties agree on the initial scope.

I have broken it down into three simple buckets - TAM, ENG, and GTM.

For each bucket they each have a "Will you ..." element to them. I have purposely kept them simple here. Detailed discussions about each would follow ... once the base level elements are agreed to.

TAM - Will you help me scope it?
ENG - Will you help me build it?
GTM - Will you help me sell it?

Where:

TAM = Total Addressable Market
ENG = Engineering support
GTM = Go To Market

Total Addressable Market (TAM)

The Total Addressable Market is something that takes work that is a combination of industry expertise and doing research on the target market. There are numerous ways to define, derive, and describe the TAM. Ultimately the partner and the platform provider need to agree on the market and the market assessment. If one model isn't working, re-spin and try again. Hint: If nothing seems to work - there may not be a valuable partnership for this particular incarnation.

This also leads to one of my favorite one liners. I don't say it to be flip or insulting. Rather I use it to make what should be an obvious point. If you only have one large customer to define your TAM ... you are missing the big picture. In the tech world you want to be able to sell the same solution (or slight variations of it) to many customers across multiple horizontal and vertical markets.

There is nothing wrong with having one large customer, but if that's the case ... treat them like the special creature they are and give ALL of your energy to them.

My one line is ...

One Customer Does Not Make A Market

Engineering Support (ENG)

This can be as simple as offering help if needed to getting engineers working together to build out some or all of the integration. There is no wrong answer or model here. Most partners just want to know they'll have the support they need to build out the solution.

A few roles I recommend assigning for both sides of the partnership are listed below. They may not always be needed and they may not always need to be deeply engaged, but when they are needed they play an invaluable role in building trust while building the solution(s).

Executive Sponsor - This can be a business leader or a technical leader and should be the person that is pulled in if things go sideways. They'll have the oomph to get things moving again.
Technical Sponsor - This role is for the person that will be scoping and defining what needs to be done. Their counterpart will also be doing the same thing. They'll come to an agreement on what needs to be done and they'll assign people to take on those roles.
Program Manager - This person is responsible for keeping things on track. They may not be the one scoping the work and assigning tasks. But, they are critical to keep the project moving and pointing out areas of risk along the way. Which leads me to another of my favorite one liners.

Good Program Managers are
Worth Their Weight in Gold

Go-to-Market (GTM)

Like with points 1 and 2 this can be simple to start and will expand as the solution gains traction. The next post in this series is about "Awareness" which is a critical element to get going right at the start. The initial GTM efforts need to start with letting the teams at each company know what's going on and the timing for it and the roles each will need to play in the process.

The GTM efforts can be as simple as creating joint press releases (which for those who this on a daily basis know is NOT a simple process) to creating white papers and reference architectures (again, these are not simple processes). The upfront expectations for what will be expected should be spelled out. That way as momentum builds everyone will be working towards the same goals and timelines.

The end result can be a series of case studies - written or video; a series of webinars; and perhaps a collection of customer references.

One of the goals of a successful GTM effort is to create a predictable and repeatable solution that can be delivered to the target market spelled out in the TAM. If additional markets pop up or are otherwise identified that's a bonus and a sign that you probably did more than a few things right.

Conclusion

In the end there is no right or wrong way to engage with partners. However, in my 20+ years of working with partners I have found that if you don't have the TAM defined, the ENG support committed, and the GTM plans in place at the beginning you will be fighting an uphill battle.

This is part 1 of a 3 part series in working with partners. The next two parts cover AAR and SMTE.

Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts here in the comments or directly via my social media channels.

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Tags: #Partner #GTM #GTD
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Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Sometimes the Journey IS the Destination

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Thu, 1 Jul 2021 18:08:00 -0700

Last weekend we had a bold goal.

We planned on riding 300 miles in 3 days.

From Duvall, WA to Tekoa, WA

Tekoa is on the Washington - Idaho border.

Duvall is the start of the Snoqualmie Valley Trail

Tekoa is the end of the Palouse to Cascades Trail

Did we make it?

Read on.

Did we count on a Heat Wave?

Nope.

Did we give it a valiant effort?

Absolutely!

This is how it started ...

The Crew in Duvall - Day 1

The Plan - From Duvall to Tekoa - 300+ miles of off-road fun

Starting on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail

Ending at the eastern end of the Palouse to Cascades Trail

This is how it ended (for me)

The 2nd Flat in less than 5 miles in 109'F heat ... I'm out!

Here are a few pics from the ride.

Fun Discoveries

WATER - Like kids at a water park. We found potable water at the 136 mile mark. Thanks to eagle eyed David ... he spied the sign that made us all smile and act like kids as we beat the heat.
Cadence Sensor
I lost my cadence sensor in March 2021 on this trail. I knew roughly where I lost it based on where the sensor stopped working. I knew it was in a low traffic area on the top of Rye Pass. More on why we know it's a low traffic area below. Trust me when I say it. Low and behold ... I looked and I found it!

Odd Factoid: I lost my replacement cadence sensor at the 21 mile mark on this ride (just past the Renslow Trestle). If you find it ... I'll give you a nice pack of Hubba Bubba and some caffeinated gels.
Local Legend Status - David Treadwell OWNS it on the aptly named Sand Route
Beverly Bridge ... Not Quite Ready, but close. We'll be back in September!

Thanks to Al Beals, David Treadwell, and Rahul Sood for making this trek a grand adventure.

Did we get to where we planned? Not really.

Did we get to where we expected? Maybe.

Because ... Sometimes the Journey IS the Destination.

#SVT #GravelGrind #P2C #SnoqualmieValleyTrail #Palouse2Cascades

The End of an Era ... Fare Well LinkedIn Elevate

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 00:53:00 -0700

It's been a long and fun ride.

From helping to launch it internally at Microsoft to being an active user and curator for several years.

It's the end of an era.

Together we sought to move the world.

I was proud to be a curator and proud to see it take off.

In the Beginning

I was #1 by a long margin. It took a while to change that. As more and more employees glommed onto the idea of posting content the balance began to shift. The first one to knock me off my pedestal was Carson Heady and I couldn't have been more proud. Not long after we were able to meet up in person at the Microsoft DTA event in Vegas. The post about it is LinkedIn Elevate … Your Career Secret Weapon. The pic didn't do justice to my elation and meeting The KING of LinkedIn Elevate.

Met People

I had the privilege of meeting quite a few people both inside and outside The MotherShip

Looking at you ...

And I able to stay in touch and keep a pulse on things with long time colleagues at Microsoft like Chris Capossela, Jean-Philippe Courtois, ShiSh Shridhar and also some newer 'sofites like Nikkia Carter and Jethro Seghers.

Learned a lot

As we rolled out the initial release of LinkedIn Elevate I posted a lot. Mainly to get the ball rolling and also to get a feel for how LinkedIn Elevate worked. As part of that process I read EVERY SINGLE ARTICLE before posting. Every Single One. Which I would argue is common sense. But, I know I personally don't do this on every occasion and sometimes skim for the gist.

The End of an Era

In the end I'm proud to be invited to be a part of it. I'm proud to see it grow and spread to all regions. I'm a little sad to see it go away. But, I know it's not gone. The best parts have been rolled into the core LinkedIn product and likely some other products related to relationship management including the one of the most challenging markets ... Human Capital Management (HCM).

It's the end of an era.

I look forward to what's next. I suspect it will involve much AI and a bit more automation.

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Tags: #Microsoft #LinkedIn #Elevate #MotherShip #SocialMedia #SocialNetwork
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Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

One Year That Changed My Life

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 18:05:00 -0700

5200 Miles In!

One year ago I bought my first Gravel Grinder.

Sure, the name might be a goofy affectation for a road bike with dirt'ish tires. But, it's a name that I like and I'm sticking with it.

On March 22nd of 2020 I bought a Specialized Diverge.

I took it for a quick 8 mile ride that first day.

And, again the next day.

And, the next.

Who knew that a few days later the whole country
would be shut down due to #COVID19.

I'm 5200 miles in now!

yes, I wear a mask when I ride.

But, ride I must.

I think I'm hooked.

As a point of reference ... I've ridden mountain bikes for 30+ years and BMX bikes before that. I would have NEVER guessed I would ride a gravel grinder 5000+ miles by now. But, here we are.

In the last 365 days I've almost 300 rides. I think I'm hooked.

ICYMI: Check out my post from January 1st here - A Year in The Gravel

This post is my actual ... ONE YEAR IN! I didn't ride a ton in January, but I've gotten in 53 rides since January 1st.

If you use Strava and want to follow along and even join in ... follow me on Strava

My Offer to You

If you like to ride and want to get out with me let me know. Otherwise add me on Strava where you can copy my routes and get the same rides in. If you have a favorite gravel grind ride I'd like to hear about it. Share it here in the comments or better yet ping me on the socials or email.

#GravelGrinder #ValleyLife #SVT #RiderUp

Customer Service is a Process

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 10:47:00 -0700

How are your customer service processes?

Do you check them?
Do you test them?
Do you have 3rd parties check them

A good customer service process can make a difference in so many ways.

Customer Retention
Customer Referrals
Customer Re-Purchases

Why I am Specialized and not Vittoria

Recently I had an amazing customer service experience with Specialized. The bicycle and gear manufacturer. That same week I had a very different experience with Vittoria.

The experience was simple by design, nature, and execution.

In both cases I had one of their products fail after a relatively short use time. Much shorter than what should be reasonably expected. In the case of Vittoria I had a trainer tire fail after less than 200 miles of use. In the case of Specialized I had a rechargeable light fail after a few uses.

In both cases I contacted customer service:

Specialized responded right away and said they had heard of this issue (empathy) and that they would replace the light (6 diamond customer service)
Vittoria also responded right away and said ... contact your reseller.
Notice the difference?

Would you rather be Ritz Carlton level ... or less?

The Ritz Carlton Hotels are famous for their exemplary customer service. Employees are allowed and encouraged to delight the customer. ANY EMPLOYEE is allowed to delight the customer. Read that again ... ANY EMPLOYEE. If someone sees something wrong ... they are empowered to fix it.

How does this related to my Specialized and Vittoria experience?

It's simple. One delighted me and the other didn't.

Does this mean Vittoria's process is bad?

No. It just means that they have a process that they follow very closely. Perhaps too closely. But, that's a business decision that Vittoria needs to make.

Note: I have NO qualms with Vittoria.

Also, if you are wondering ... Why didn't I buy a Specialized trainer tire?

The answer is simple. As far as I know ... they don't make one.

Channels Matter

Both Specialized and Vittoria sell thru distributors.
Both Specialized and Vittoria have customer service processes
Both Specialized and Vittoria get to decide how much they'd like to delight customers

In this case ... Specialized won.

Will they get my repeat business. Yes!
Will they get good customer references from me? Yes! (obviously)
Will the repeat this with other customers? They probably do every day.

In defense of Vittoria. They get to choose how they run their business. That's not for me to define. Did it hurt their prospects of my business in the future? Yes. Will it be a material impact on their business? I doubt it.

Am I against Vittoria? No. I think they make great tires.
Will I look for Vittoria tires in the future? Probably not.
What could Vittoria have done differently? This is something I've asked myself a few times.

Customer Service Matters.

Doing it right is hard.

Doing it right is expensive.

Doing it consistently is both hard and expensive.

But, the cost can be worth it. Delighted customers come back ... again and again.

And, they tell their friends.

A Year in The Gravel

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Fri, 1 Jan 2021 20:59:00 -0800

On March 22nd I found what I was looking for.

I had no idea at the time that it would change my life in such a profound way.

I've been riding bikes since I was 5 or 6 years old.

I've been riding Mtn Bikes for over 30 years.

I like riding in the dirt. After racing motocross for years I like the thrill of getting dirty and when you do fall (and you WILL fall) it's a lot nicer to hit the dirt.

I've never had a desire to ride bikes on the road. Except for using roads to connect to trails.

All that changed on March 22nd.

I found what I was looking for.

I found a Specialized Diverge ... a gravel grinder!

In the 9 months I've owned it I've ridden over 4000 miles and have had a great time learning about the area we live in. I've ridden the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, the SVT, several times. One end is in Duvall and the other end is at Rattlesnake Lake. Which connects to the Palouse-to-Cascades Trail that can be taken all the way to Idaho (See Ride-A-Ho). With a fun cruise thru a two mile long tunnel that goes thru a mountain to get from one side of the cascades to the other side.

I had a slight detour in my riding in August. I crashed and broke my collarbone (see pic below). Which is kinda funny because I've crashed hundreds of times on my Mtn Bike and have never broken anything. I crashed once on my gravel grinder and boom ... broken bone. Regardless, I'm hooked and was back on the bike as quickly as I could.

Last year I did a 100 miles in one day on a ride from Bellevue to Cle Elum with David Treadwell. Then on the next day ... we rode back. We plan on doing another similar ride and will likely use this as a warm up for the Ride-a-Ho (riding the 250-mile Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail)

Ride-A-Ho is Coming

With The Crew we are planning a ride from Bellevue, WA to the Idaho border. We plan for a three day ride with stops at around 100 miles for each day. Including a crossing of the great Columbia River. There is a bridge being fixed / updated at Beverly on the Columbia where we plan on crossing. The repair has been delayed, but we are hoping they speed it along. If not, we'll punt and cross by car at Vantage. It's far too scary to ride a bike across that bridge. If you know you know.

For Rainy Days

I picked up a trainer. I use it with the Peloton app and it makes long indoor rides much more fun and bearable. Plus I have Baby Yoda aka Grogu to watch over me. If I have my druthers I prefer to be outdoors. Even when it is muddy.

Gravel Not Roads

I still prefer to use roads as connectors to trails. But, with a Gravel Grinder there are often longer sections of roads I need to use to connect trails. I try to get thru them as quickly as possible. Being on the roads with cars is SCARY!

2021 is Gonna Be Big

In 2021 I plan on doing a few things:

Get the COVID vaccine as soon as I can
Get in at least another 4000 miles this year
And, yes ... Ride More Places and Explore More Trails!

Yes, it does get a bit muddy out there.

My Offer to You

If you like to ride and want to get out with me let me know. Otherwise add me on Strava where you can copy my routes and get the same rides in. If you have a favorite gravel grind ride I'd like to hear about ii. Share it here in the comments or better yet ping me on the socials or email.

TAGS: #GravelGrinding #Specialized #Diverge #SVT #ValleyLife #Rideaho

Nobody is safe until everyone is safe

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:16:00 -0800

The year 2020 has been chaotic to say the least.

What was supposed to be the “Hindsight Year” has turned into the “Wash Your Hands - Wear Your Mask - Stay 6 Feet Away Year” or perhaps the new "Shot Heard 'round The World"

2021 needs to be the “Get the Vaccine” year.

For many in developed countries this will be relatively easy. There are stockpiles of vaccine being delivered now. Ignoring for a moment the poorly executed roll out from within the various government organizations. These logistical challenges will be overcome. Incompetent governments will not be able to stand in the way for long.

But, there is a problem.

It may take until 2023 until developing countries and people in remote corners of the globe can be vaccinated.

The key elements to getting the vaccine to the masses ... all 7.3 Billion of them are threefold:

Development - the hard work is done. scientists from around the world collaborated to make it so.
Manufacturing - again, the hard work is done.
Distribution - the hard work is just starting. As we've seen the roll out has be fraught with errors.

Not Fun Fact: In the USA "Operation Warp Speed" had initial success with steps 1 and 2. They clearly did not have a plan for step 3.

What Happens if it takes to 2023?

The risk is that the virus might mutate enough that the current slate of vaccines may become less effective. Whereby the efficacy could be reduced. And, we have to go back to step 1.

This is all the more reason the get and keep the three key elements fired up and running at full speed. Perhaps with an international body to oversee each phase. I'll leave smarter minds to address this.

What Can We Do?

Simple. Get the vaccine.

It’s not a political statement. It’s a matter of life and death.

Mask Up! If not for yourself ... do it for those you know AND those you don't know.

Nobody is safe until everyone is safe

Image Credit: The Guardian

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Tags: #COVID #Vaccine

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Resources:

Race to vaccinate millions in US off to slow, messy start

https://apnews.com/article/public-health-seniors-florida-coronavirus-pandemic-e106ffb05881cd474be554dac055bff6

Poor countries could be left behind in COVID-19 vaccine distribution: "An unacceptable scenario"

CBS - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-vaccine-distribution-poor-countries/

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Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently at Oracle where he works with partners, including Microsoft, VMware, ServiceNow, and their partners, to create Hybrid Cloud solutions on a global scale.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Shavings Make A Pile

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 17:32:00 -0800

One of my colleagues said this a while ago and it stuck with me. I hand drew a pile of sticks on my whiteboard, but I thought slivers of chocolate made for a better visual.

When you are working on a project you often work in phases.

Phases where only one scrap of the overall project is completed.

Each scrap might be considered a shaving.

Each shaving goes onto the pile.

As the pile grows ... you know you are getting somewhere.

Pro Tip: Keep at it. Keep getting those shavings.

As small as they might seem.

As slow as they might seem to be coming.

Those shavings add up.

As you keep working at them they eventually make a pile.

The pile is evidence of your hard work.

Persistence Matters!

Keep it up!

If it's worth doing ... it's worth keeping at it.

---

What Shavings Have You Collected Today?
Were they from the right project?
The one that you should be working on?

---

Take the time to examine your shavings pile.

You may discover you are building the wrong piles.

If so, think about the tools you are using and the material you are working with.

Change them accordingly.

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Tags: #Focus #GTD #WFH #COVID
---

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Don't let the headlines ruin your day

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 08:29:00 -0700

I wrote this on August 2nd 2015 at 9:07am.

It was in response to a bunch of negative headlines.

Let's face it ... negative headlines work.

But, they don't have to control us.

Headlines of the Day - on August 2nd 2015 (yes, 5 years ago)

Tsunami in Oregon
The LHC (CERN) will unleash a black hole
New Madras fault
DC fault
Cascadia fault
Yellowstone Super Volcano (see movie 2012)
Hurricanes in the Caribbean
Super Storm Sandy (every year ... Forever)
Ebola
Marburg
Alligators in the everglades
Pythons in Florida
Zebra mussels in the great lakes
Brown Snakes in toilets
Piranhas in local streams
Invasive walking / lung fish

Let's not forget sharks:

Bull Sharks in Rivers
Shark attacks in FL, NC, SC, SA, etc.

===

I'm writing this on March 24th 2020 at 7am.

The headlines today are grim.

Together we can and will move past this. Together we can.

Focus on your health, your family, your important things.

Work will always be there ... in one form or another.

We can't let the headlines ruin our day.

For another point of view ... consider taking a look at my list of 51 Things in 51 Years.

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Tags: #Focus #GTD #WFH #WAH #CoronaVirus
---

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Have some fun when Working From Home

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 11:45:00 -0700

Whether you are Working From Home for the first time or whether you are an old hat and know the ins and outs of working from home I want to share a tip that makes me smile.

Using Virtual Backgrounds on Zoom

Last week I was “at” Pipeline, the famous surf break on the North Shore. I also “went” to Easter Island and Machu Picchu and even “watched” some dolphins playing in the surf. Here are a few pics of my adventures.

So, instead of showing whatever is behind you in your home office, kitchen, or wherever you may be … you can have a little fun and from my experience bring a few smiles to the people on that conference call.

With Zoom ... you can add pictures and videos. Note: there are default pics and videos that are pretty fun too - a beach with swaying palms, the Golden Gate Bridge, etc. However, if you want to personalize it … you have options. Go Wild!

Pro Tip: Turn Your Camera On for all conference calls

Encourage others to do the same. It’s amazing how many others will when they see you have yours on.

Of course, you can always just have a work pic. This is my office in Austin, TX. One of my colleagues asked me if I was in the office. As much as I love Austin I had to say no.

Note: I’m guessing Microsoft Teams, Webex, JoinMe and others have similar features. If you know how to do that please feel free to add a comment here or on the social network where you are seeing this. (PS - Microsoft Teams has a really cool "Blur Background" option)

WFH Doesn’t Have to Be Boring

Have a little fun. Bring a smile to the faces of those on your next conference call.

You can travel to Mordor, Alderaan, or even The Matrix

Reminder Best Practice: Turn Your Camera On!

A colleague I know thru the IAMCP requires cameras to be on during her team calls. Not to shame people for their bad hair days, but to make that visual connection. It works. Especially in times like these where we might need that visual connection more than ever.

Wait? What? How Do I Do That?

If you are asking yourself this … here are a few screenshots and a video to walk you thru it. This video is less than 2 minutes and shows how to go thru the “settings” gear icon.

Request for you: If you do this or something like this today please share your ideas in the comments. Help us all work better from home and eventually back in the office and on the road.

Have some fun.
Post your most creative pictures and videos.
And, encourage others to do the same.

See you on the next conference call.

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Tags: #FutureOfWork #GTD #WFH #WAH #CoronaVirus
---

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

The End of Business Cards as we know them

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Sun, 9 Feb 2020 22:02:00 -0800

Do you still have business cards?

More and more people don’t!

For me ... I just ordered the last set of business cards I will ever own.

I'm not the only one.

At the Women in Cloud event I ran into Rajashree Varma and she said that she recently realized that she had printed her last set of business cards ... ever. This was a realization not long after she sold her company and she decided that the business cards she created with her business were the last business cards she would ever own.

I see this as more than a casual trend.

With social media and social networks there is almost no need to have a physical business card anymore. If you want to find something out about someone you can quickly search for them across a myriad of social tools. If you want to add them to your preferred social network it takes not much more than a simple click.

Pro Tip: Use LinkedIn's QR code option.

LinkedIn allows you to quickly scan someone else's QR code directly to your mobile device. If you haven't tried this yet it's easy and takes just a few seconds to share your code or read someone's.

My code is on the left. Feel free to scan it and add me to your LinkedIn network.

Follow this link to see how easy it is (iOS and Android options): Using a LinkedIn QR Code to Connect with Members

Cultural Issues Still Matter

There are still some cultures where the display and sharing of business cards will continue to dominate for the time being. Eventually the ease of electronic sharing will take over and replace the olden ways. For this reason ... I will keep my small stack of business cards.

Are Business Cards going the way of the Dodo?

What do you think?
What are you seeing?
What are you doing?

For me ... I've ordered the last set of business cards I expect to ever own.

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Tags: #FutureOfWork #GTD #WIC
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Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

What's Keeping Your Attention?

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Sun, 2 Feb 2020 20:29:00 -0800

In the Attention Economy the things that keep your attention should be given more weight.

Note I didn't say what "has" your attention.

I'm asking ... what is KEEPING your attention.

However, that's not always how it works out. The reality is that we all have multiple things pulling and pining for our attention. Some are self-induced and others are imposed by others. Whether it's family, friends, work or something else there are things in our lives that do require and deserve our attention.

The challenge for each of us is to find that balancing point.

We are each given the same amount of time every day.

It's up to us to determine how best to us that time.

Choose Wisely.

Your Focus is Your Future
What you pay attention to defines you.

“Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.”

~Jose Ortega y Gassett

Tags: #GrowthMindset #GTD
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Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

NCAA Pay to Play and NIL Rights

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Sun, 3 Nov 2019 08:35:00 -0800

The recent announcement that NCAA athletes can make money on their name or likeness is going to create a lot of jobs. The NCAA still wants to keep NIL rights under lock and key.

Athletes sometimes have to decide ...

"... whether to eat or get gas for the car"

Should students be able to monetize their Name, Image, and Likeness?

California says yes. Other states are following suit. The NCAA is not convinced ... yet.

Whether you think athletes should make money or not isn’t the point.

The NCAA pulls in more that $1B a year

The fact that “student athletes” can now make money on their name, image, and likeness will create a whole new sub-industry for lawyers, social media experts, and perhaps many other sub-industries too.

NIL = Name, Image, and Likeness

So, in a sense the NCAA pay-to-play option is a Job Creation program. This is a good thing.

California Deems It Legal
Recently the State of California passed a law allowing athletes to profit off their likeness. This forced the hand of the NCAA. This week the NCAA has agreed to create a committee to evaluate the impact of said profiting. It was interesting that the NCAA didn’t actually agree to the law. The NCAA is “considering” changing their policies for “modernization” of the way they allow student athletes to participate in the process.

See California’s Fair Pay to Play Act (link)

As noted, the NCAA pulls in more that $1B a year. TV Networks, Coaches, and Administration efforts likely make 10x or 20x of this for broadcast rights, tickets sales, venue sponsorships, etc.

Coaches Salaries are a prime example of where the money is flowing.

Football and Basketball predominantly have very high salaries
Women’s sports too … just not as much, nor as widespread
Examples for Coaches, Assistant Coaches, Strength Coaches for football and Basketball coaches are here (see tabs on the right)

Top 10 Highest-Paid Coaches in NCAA Football (source: link

Mike Krzyzewski—$8.9 Million

Nick Saban—$8.3 Million

Urban Meyer—$7.6 Million

Jim Harbaugh—$7.5 Million

Jimbo Fisher—$7.5 Million

John Calipari—$7.1 Million

Chris Holtmann—$7.1 Million

Gus Malzahn—$6.7 Million

Kirby Smart—$6.6 Million

Dabo Swinney—$6.2 Million

Also, strength coaches and other assistant coaches may pull in $500K a year too.

What's Next with NIL Rights?
It remains to be seen how many athletes can capitalize on their NIL. As usual some will make it big and some will spend a lot of time, money, and effort trying to make it big. In the meantime the services that support these athletes will continue to generate interest and likely revenue for their efforts.

I hope the athletes end up for the better in all of this. Whether or not they make it to the professional leagues. In fact, I suspect some athletes will do quite well in sports that may not have professional leagues (at least in the USA).

Imagine a softball player, cricket, rugby, equestrian oriented athletes, or even table tennis.

It's up to the creativity of the athletes and their soon to be hired legal, social, and personal assistants to ideate, define, and deliver new ideas to the market. This can be especially true with sports that are popular in regions outside the USA.

I expect a few savvy athletes and their agents will make noise and visibility in sports where they don’t typically generate a lot of attention or TV time.

Something to consider:
Are Olympic Dreams at Risk?
Is amateur status at risk if student athletes generate revenue from their NIL rights?
Consider whether student athletes give up their options to compete in the Olympics. Perhaps this is a moot point. I don’t know if there is a significant number of student athletes considering trying out for the Olympics. But, this is something to consider.

What Do You Think?

Should athletes be paid for their NIL rights?
Will schools suffer if they “have to” share the revenue stream?
Do you agree this will be a job creation boon for the ancillary services supporting NIL rights?

Share a thought in the comments or on the social network where you saw this.

Listen / Read for more details:

NPR (3 minute listen) - https://www.npr.org/2019/10/29/774439078/ncaa-starts-process-to-allow-compensation-for-college-athletes
UpFirst (11:45 minute mark) - https://overcast.fm/+L2I5BbZc8/04:49
The Right to Sell Out (podcast) - https://overcast.fm/+L2I5BbZc8
Vox (article) - https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/10/3/20896738/california-fair-pay-to-play-act-college-athletes

Tags: #NIL #NCAA #Sports #SocialMedia #Olympics
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Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently the Technical Alliances Manager at Zerto where he focuses on the Microsoft engagement efforts.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Ableism with Haben Girma

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 09:46:00 -0700

One of the advantages of being a Microsoft Alumni Member is access to the Outside In events that are held on the Microsoft campus. The speakers are from all over the map in terms of background, age, profession, and so many other factors. Recently I had the privilege of seeing the most unique speaker. She was born in Oakland, CA and her parents are from Ethiopia and Eritrea. She has a guide dog to help her get around. Oh, and she is the first blind and deaf graduate of Harvard Law School.

Disability is not the same as broken

Haben’s perception of Microsoft

Microsoft people have access to magic wands
Technology is a bridge
Microsoft is doing a lot to help people with different abilities

She took interview questions via a Braille-Reader. Which was operated in real-time via one of her colleagues. She spoke about her family and what life was like growing up. She had several really funny stories and one of the best was about her love for her first guide dog Maxine and her current guide dog Milo. She let everyone know that Milo is a great dog. But, she added with a wry smile … that he didn’t go to Harvard. You kinda had to be there, but in the moment she said Maxine walked across the dais with her when she received her law degree.

She spoke about how the school cafeteria didn’t have braille options for the menus. She nicely asked for help and inquired about the options. What she heard was … there are no plans to make a braille version. She doesn’t take no for an answer easily. Again, she said with a wry smile … I did what everyone would do … I filed a lawsuit. She didn’t take pride in filing the lawsuit. She took pride in helping the school do the right thing.

If you get the chance to see, hear, or just be present when Haben speaks ... take it. If you know someone with different abilities ... bring them to an event with Haben. She is inspiring. She is a natural leader. Note Bene: She would be a great hire for Microsoft.

Haben in Eritrean means … pride

In addition to Microsoft hosting speakers like Haben they also hire people with different abilities. Haben reminded us that this is a good thing. She let everyone in the audience know that people with disabilities are often the best innovators. They live with the challenges every day. Sometimes they can effect and impact solutions directly to meet their needs and their vision. Other times they could use a little help. This is where Microsoft comes in with some of the products that are being built today (and tomorrow). Products like Azure IoT, Seeing AI, Voice to Text Real Time Translation Services, Robotics, Haptics, etc. – each of them have direct application potential to help people on so many levels.

Seemingly simple things like "Gestures" to open a door are empowering. The picture above with a "wave to open" was taken on the Microsoft campus.

People with disabilities are often the best innovators.
~ Haben Girma

Learning Braille
She spoke about learning braille. She talked about one of her early instructors took a very clinical approach to learning braille. She said under that mode of learning it wasn’t very successful. A later teacher made it easy by making it fun. He offered candy as a reward and kept it interesting and challenging. She thrived in this mode of learning … when Learning braille was fun … with rewards. Today there are tools that take content on websites and other computer systems that convert the text on the screen to a braille reader. This is a good start. There is more work to do.

Braille literacy is around 10%

Advocacy
Advocacy is everyone’s responsibility. She brought up a few areas where people can push for change. Perhaps even ... can demand change:

Podcasts – Make sure they include transcripts as it helps with SEO and Search in general
Captions on videos – Ask and expect videos to include the option for captions (in multiple languages when it makes sense)
Increase accessibility - plan for it at the start as it is harder to add after the fact

If you feel inspired …
What is the call to Action?
Do one thing:

Take one concrete step
Remove barriers and access
Make it fun. Make it inclusive.

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Learn more about Haben

Read her book: https://habengirma.com/book/
Website: https://habengirma.com/
NPR (read or listen): https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/07/31/428075935/she-owes-her-activism-to-a-brave-mom-the-ada-and-chocolate-cake

Learn more about the Microsoft Alumni Network - https://www.microsoftalumni.com

Tags: Ableism, Braille, Harvard, Microsoft, Advocacy, Alumni, #MSFTALUM

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Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently the Technical Alliances Manager at Zerto where he focuses on the Microsoft engagement efforts.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

RPA in the USA

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Tue, 8 Oct 2019 11:32:00 -0700

This title just made me smile. Especially as I mentally play it in my mind to the rock anthem “R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.” by John Mellencamp (then known as John Cougar Mellencamp).

For those that haven’t been following along … RPA is Robotic Process Automation.

RPA is taking the world by storm. Companies like UiPath have made incredible inroads in making this technology trend.

Almost every horizontal ISV is getting in on the effort – from traditional ECM vendors like KnowledgeLake, LaserFiche, and Kofax to the more logical workflow and BPM vendors like K2, Nintex, Pegasystems, etc.

RPA is a hot topic. It can be especially relevant in the mundane and repetitive tasks that so many legacy systems impose.

The area is rife for innovation and I suspect there will be a lot of companies embracing the movement. The industry analysts are already following the trends and predicting a $1.3B market for software revenue in 2019. This is a small fraction of the consulting and deployment revenues to be made in this space. Typically, there is a 10 to 20x multiplier for a full lifecycle deployment of technologies. Meaning this is a $20B market. That’s enough to get people interested.

RPA is not new. It’s the semi-logical evolution of what once was the work of Frederick W. Taylor thru Alfred P. Sloan to W.Edwards Deming and later Hammer & Champy. Which is where I started with BPR at FileNet (now part of IBM) back in the 90’s. See Taylorism is Back … with a Vengence.

This does not to denigrate the fact that RPA is making inroads in businesses of all types and sizes.

Who Knows ... This might be the decade of RPA.

What Does RPA Do?
In a nutshell … RPA is the evaluation of processes for potential automation of repetitive tasks.

This is an oversimplification.

A more detailed description from TechTarget is:

“Robotic process automation (RPA) is the use of software with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities to handle high-volume, repeatable tasks that previously required humans to perform. These tasks can include queries, calculations and maintenance of records and transactions.”

RPA is working hard to be everything BPR wanted to be

My former colleague at Microsoft, Joel Cherkis, wrote this post about the use of RPA in the USA, er Government. Joel is the VP, Global Public Sector Industry at UiPath. He held a similar role at Microsoft and he knows this space well.

He mentioned it here in this LinkedIn post which got me writing.

I’ve been thinking about RPA for 20+ years. Back in the day it has gone by many names. Including the pioneering efforts by Michael Hammer and James Champy in their seminal work for Business Process Reengineering, aka BPR. BPR got a bad rap in the 80’s. It was code for “layoffs” “downsizing” and other terms related to job disruption. Which wasn’t completely untrue. Ask me about Time-Motion studies at FileNet sometime. I’ll share a few stories from the real-world.

RPA is NOT a Job Death Knell
How many of you like to do your expense reports? Trip reports? Status reports?

Hint: No one does.

This is where RPA can help. Admittedly, this is a small area for RPA to have an impact on a business. But, imagine this … every employee … no matter how small or large an organization is … can spend the time they used to commit to these mundane tasks on more value added efforts.

It’s not hard to imagine.

People want to work on things that add value.

Sure, there are some tasks that are repetitive. That are boring. Yet, they still need to be done. RPA can help here.

What’s the Value of RPA?
This is the $1B question. Is it “worth it” for a company to spend money on automation?

This is a question that can only be answered directly. Not in the abstract.

It remains to be seen if organizations pick up and run with the RPA ball.

I suspect they will.

As a taxpayer, I hope the US government takes the RPA model to reduce the repetitive and mundane tasks from their workflows and systems.

And, I hope we get to benefit from RPA in the USA.

Stay tuned for RPA in the Milky Way. (that’s another post entirely)
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Tags:
#RPA #BPR #Process #Government #Workflow #ECM

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Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently the Technical Alliances Manager at Zerto where he focuses on the Microsoft engagement efforts.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Low Hanging Fruit is NOT always the best

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Wed, 2 Oct 2019 12:36:00 -0700

I was talking with a colleague a while back and we got to talking about “Low Hanging Fruit” related to a project we were working on. And, he said something that resonated with me.

He said, Ya know …

Low Hanging Fruit is NOT always the best

He didn’t say it in a preachy or condescending manner. He just said it matter of factly.
I asked what he meant and he said …

Sometimes the best fruit is on the top. Or even on another tree.
You have to look … then judge for yourself.

And, it got me thinking. And, now writing.

It’s both a metaphor for the way we can approach business and life.

I created a mini-table of Do’s and Don'ts that sum it up for me.

Don’t

Settle for what’s in front of you
Lose the forest for the trees
Keep doing the same thing

Take a look at all the options
Try different things
Be bold

Thanks to Sean Hall for this wisdom, insight, and fodder for deeper thinking.

This spurred my Growth Mindset thinking and allowed (forced?) me to think about goals and objectives in a different way.

What do you think?

Do you only look for the low hanging fruit?
Do you consider it a waste of time to look in other areas?
Do you wait for someone to bring you the best fruit? (Caesar and Cleopatra style)

Drop a comment here on on the social channels where you might see this posted and lets start a dialogue.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

The Setup in the Setback

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Sun, 22 Sep 2019 14:26:00 -0700

We were all tired from several long days of meetings at the Microsoft DTA event in Las Vegas.

We powered thru a few hours of content with no breaks.

The last session was next.

All the schedule said was “Jake Olson - Motivational Speaker”

I didn’t know what to expect. I was considering leaving before this last segment started.

Then the video filled the screen.

After watching this video there were tears being wiped away and lumps in throats across all the people in the room.

I’m so glad I didn’t leave.

In walks Jake Olson

As Jake entered the room …

Everyone was on their feet. Everyone was clapping.

Everyone stayed on their feet as Jake took the stage.

Inspiring isn’t a strong enough word to describe the feeling Jake imparts.

Watch the video … then come back.

Wow! Just Wow!!

**blinking back tears as I type this**

That’s how impactful this video was and is on me.

Jake entered the room with a hand draped over the shoulder of the person guiding him onto the stage.
As you figured out from the video …

Yes. Jake is blind.

But, there is so much more to him that what we can see (pun intended).

Jake had several great self-deprecating one-liners about his lack of vision (pun also intended).

And, during his motivational speech (which it was) he dropped a few comic gems.

**Note to event planners: Hire Jake! You will not be sorry.**

Jake’s Journey

He talked about his love for the USC Trojans and how Pete Carroll (Coach of USC at the time) and the team embraced him and helped Jake get to do something that most people never get a chance to do. First it was to meet the team and join them on the field as a kid. Eventually, it was to join the football team and play in a college football game.

Later, it was to take those experiences and put them to use in a way that helps others. Which he is carrying on today … on the stage at this event and through other efforts where he has committed his time.

Jake shared how hard it can be not to let the setbacks destroy you. He shared personal stories about losing his vision and his passion for football. He emphasized a key point about what we see and how we see it impacts the way we perceive, approach, and evaluate challenging situations. He said …

Change the way you see things

and the things you see will change

Impressively he did all of this from memory. He didn’t have slides or notes. I know this may be fairly obvious given his blindness, but being in the tech industry for going on 30 years I know how much I use PPT and notes as a crutch. Jake doesn’t have that luxury … and it’s impressive.

As the title alludes to … Jake spoke about setbacks. He spoke about every setback having some sort of setup within it. He said that setup isn’t always obvious. But, he said with perseverance and often times talking with mentors that the setup would be identified and that setup would help overcome the setback.

A Great End to a Long Snap (er, week)
Thank you to Katy Brown, Regional VP of Sales for the Microsoft West Region and to the MSFT US West team. This was a well organized session and will help partners connect with you and execute well on the vision for FY20.

I for one really appreciated the lead in from Kate Johnson’s keynote on day 1 talking about empathy and that the closing session from Jake Olson pulled it all together.

The reality is … we have a lot of work to do in FY20.

There will be setbacks in our journey thru FY20.

As we learned from Jake … this is where the opportunity resides.

Because … when we are paying attention we realize that to achieve success we need to be paying attention to:

The Setup in the Setback.

If you were at the US West session please feel free to add a comment here or on the social channels.
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Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently the Technical Alliances Manager at Zerto where he focuses on the Microsoft engagement efforts.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Learn-it-All > Know-it-All > Do-it-All

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Tue, 9 Jul 2019 12:51:00 -0700

Microsoft's CEO didn't invent the term Learn-it-All, but he has embraced and espoused its merits.
If you have been paying attention in the past 3+ years since Satya Nadella took over as Microsoft's CEO you would have seen that he talks about a Growth Mindset.

Has he gotten it right every time? No. And, when he has erred he went on to apologize.

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
In her pioneering work Carol Dweck focused on the ability of people to use one mindset over the other to achieve more. She doesn't say it's easy. She doesn't offer a quick fix set of rules. But, she does set the groundwork for what it takes to think and with a Growth Mindset and to avoid the pitfalls of a Fixed Mindset.

See Fixed or Growth — Why Your Mindset Matters

There is a tie-in between the idea of a Growth Mindset and the perceived need to do it all too. The risks of a Do-it-All mindset is that you don’t leave enough time for reflection. I believe the corollary to a Growth Mindset is to know when the delegate and when dump things from your ever expanding To-Do list. Delegation and Saying No are a both an art and a science.

There is another risk that ties the Do-it-All with the Know-it-All mentality. It’s this … You Can Never Do Both for the long haul. (Hint: You shouldn’t try to)

This image is shared under Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs - CC BY-NC-ND. Source: Reid Wilson

The Perils of Do-it-All
I've come to realize that a Do-it-All mentality is fragile and self-defeating. Much like the basketball coach that literally and figuratively cannot go on the court and do what they expect of the athletes under their tutelage the same can be said for a manger in a business.

Yes, individual contributors are often vaunted into management positions. It's a great way to grow from within. But, it doesn’t always work. The great sales rep doesn’t always become the great sales manager. Just as a great specialist doesn’t always become a great generalist.

“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”

~John Wooden

The Secret to Defeating the KIA and DIA mentality
This should not come as a surprise. There is one very simple trick to offset and ultimately defeat the Know-it-All and Do-it-All mentalities. It's not easy. The people with the KIA and DIA modes of thinking are often dead-set and hard-wired in their ways. I know … I’ve been there. I’m sure you have too at various times in your life. But, if they want to change. If they are ready to take the next step. They need to do one thing. And, that one thing requires something that they will be hard pressed to give up.

They need to realize that they can never Know-it-All or Do-it-All. Embrace that and embrace the mentality of a Life Long Learner. Become a Learn-it-All.

Remember … Learn-it-All > Know-it-All > Do-it-All

Choose Wisely!

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Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently the Technical Alliances Manager at Zerto where he focuses on the Microsoft engagement efforts.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn or Facebook

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

LinkedIn Elevate … Your Career Secret Weapon

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 06:39:00 -0700

As some of you know I helped deploy and test LinkedIn Elevate at Microsoft.

Today, I want to introduce you to the person that bested me.

I’m proud to say that Carson Heady has bested me. Kudos and congratulations to him.

In his own words Carson’s going to share what he has learned about LinkedIn and the LinkedIn elevate platform. so, bear with us for a moment.

Elevate is an incredible, valuable and ultra relevant tool.
It's helped me not only stay abreast of what's topical in my business and that of our customers …

Carson's thoughts on LinkedIn Elevate:

I’m always looking for different tools to enhance my social selling acumen, and firmly believe the day is fast approaching where social selling will just be called selling. While there are no silver bullets to prospecting and applying strategic touches to your relationships, when I found out about Elevate from a peer I was instantly hooked. Many tools can tee up posts to share, but Elevate culls countless valuable articles that my co-workers are sharing that I can read for my own education, share to my network, and often send directly to clients with whom I’ve spoken about that very topic. Elevate has been instrumental in my selling tool bag and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to invest some strategic time in improving their selling process. The articles and sharing capabilities make it exceptionally easy for me to plot out my day and stay in touch with my network.

LinkedIn Elevate to Me!

I’ve been using social media and social networks for a long time. I’ve been on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for over 10 years. That doesn’t make me an expert. That doesn’t make me anything special. It just means I’ve been on them for a long time. It also means I’ve seen a lot of changes in the way they operate and in the way I use them too.

LinkedIn Elevate did something that I particularly liked.

LinkedIn elevate help me do three things:

It allowed me to post to multiple channels at the same time.
LinkedIn elevate allowed me to schedule posts for a day or even days out.
And, LinkedIn elevate allowed me to see analytics on what I posted

Yes, I know some people think this is blasphemy and not the way social is supposed to be used. But, when you work for a living and you have other things to do (besides post to social networks all day long) it’s nice to have a tool to help you automate some of those tasks.

Has LinkedIn elevate changed my life?

That’s debatable. But, I can confidently say that LinkedIn Elevate help make me more productive and help allow me to post content that I believe is useful to people that I interact with across various social networks.

I‘d love to hear your thoughts. Whether they are complementary or contradictory I want to hear what you have to say.

What is your LinkedIn Elevate story?

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For more information about LinkedIn Elevate

Disclaimer: I don’t work for LinkedIn and I’m not compensated for any of my efforts with LI Elevate. I’m just a fan.

---

Connect with Carson

Carson V. Heady

He is the author of "Birth of a Salesman" and an all-around good guy.

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Jeff is business advisor, mentor and community engagement expert. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently the Technical Alliances Manager at Zerto where he focuses on the Microsoft engagement efforts.

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google+

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Mastering the LinkedIn Pre-Announce

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 22:26:00 -0700

I was walking through our little town to get some pizza with my soon to be college graduate a few weeks ago and we go to talking about whether you should pre-announce your new job on LinkedIn. My initial thought was … no. Then after we walked a little more and talked a little more I realized it actually can make a lot of sense to pre-announce on LinkedIn.

Announcing … The Pre-Announce LinkedIn Update … something you do BEFORE you start your next role. Below are a few ideas and a bit of guidance on how best to organize your Pre-Announce LinkedIn Update.

NB: I also think there is a time to post AFTER you started a new job.
As I wrote in How Soon Should You Update Your LinkedIn Profile

Why Post BEFORE You Start

I think there are a lot of reasons to pre-announce your new role on LinkedIn. Some of the more obvious examples that come to mind are listed below. I’d like to hear your thoughts too. Drop your thoughts in the comments.

New college grad
Changing industries
Changing towns

For new college grads it’s a great way to get the word out that you are:

a) Employed – which is a BIG relief for parents. I can tell you from personal experience.
b) Making a Change - it gives friends (and family) a heads up where you are headed.

If you are changing industries it’s a good idea to let people know. For example, if you’ve spent your whole career in tech and are making a move to a non-profit or something else the LinkedIn update might be the only way people know you’ve made a change.

If you are moving to a new town the Pre-Announce LinkedIn Update can allow you to hit the ground running. Especially if you are going to be building a new base of contacts and/or build your team.

Does it work?

Yes. I know I notice and I usually comment too. Especially if there is something I can add to help them. In fact, in the past few days I’ve noticed a few friends posting that they have accepted a role for their dream job and they couldn’t wait to tell the world.

A few tips when you do decide to post something:

Think ahead – Know what your new title will be. Perhaps even give your hiring manager a heads up.
Be respectful - Announcing a new job is a proud accomplishment. Revel in it, but don’t rub it in peoples faces.
Include an Ask – If you have something you need … ask. You’ll be amazed at the generosity of people.
Respond when people ask questions – Be prepared with a brief overview of what you’ll be doing.

Pro Tip – Share when YOU are ready. By default the “Shared with Network” option is turned off. When you are ready to share with your network … see the section below at the bottom of your update and slide it to the “On” position.

Why does any of this matter?

Mainly because LinkedIn has become the lingua franca of business. It’s the way we stay connected, get connected, and engage with the people we do business with … no matter where they are in the world.

I’m glad I had that conversation with my son on the way to get pizza. I look forward to hearing about his new role and how I can learn from him.

Not that anyone needs my permission, but I think a Pre-Announce LinkedIn Update of your next role on LinkedIn is A-OK.

Post away!

Want more? See my post on Mastering LinkedIn Hygiene

Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google+

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

Just PUP It

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Shuey) — Fri, 8 Jun 2018 07:20:00 -0700

When in doubt … Just PUP It.

This is something my manager told me many years ago.

It means … Just Pick Up the Phone!

Instead of a long running string of emails or chat sessions or texts or any of the other myriad of ways you might be using to communicate … Just Pick Up the Phone!

But, but, but …

Sure. You are busy.
Sure. The other party may be in a different time zone.
Sure. You might be in a running disagreement with the person.

These are not viable excuses.

When in doubt … Just PUP It!

From personal experience I can tell you that a 5 minute phone call beats days of emails and chats by a long shot.

Excuses don't matter … Results Do!

Everyone is busy. Yes, we are in a global society. On the phone you can better understand nuance and be able to react in real time (good and bad) to the person on the other end of the line.

When in doubt … Just PUP It!

Pro Tip: Include ALL of your contact details on every email

Yes, email is old school. However, lots of people in the business world still use it to communicate.

And, I can tell you from personal experience there is nothing more frustrating that trying to find someone's phone number. Well, there might be a few things more frustrating, but in the business world … being able to quickly find the information you need to contact someone is critical.

I wrote this about the thinking behind including your contact info … every time.

One Simple Tip to Make it Easier to Engage

Pro Tip: Consider putting your contact info on your LinkedIn profile

It's true, LinkedIn is becoming the lingua franca for business communications.

However, there are some caveats. Some are here today and some will be rearing their ugly heads in the coming years. One caveat is that there are still creepers out there on LinkedIn. That will likely never change, but you need to be cognizant that some people don't have the best intentions on LinkedIn. This is especially true for women. The level of vitriol I see and hear from women using LinkedIn is going up (not down).

Recommendation for LinkedIn --- Keep working on your tool. Put more Artificial Intelligence behind the scenes to identify the "creepers" and also allow users to tag suspicious users. Some of this is there today. Keep up the good work. The quality of the platform will increase when these tools are more widespread.

Caveat for LinkedIn --- Beware of Type II Beta Errors. Put in tools to help avoid false positives. More on this in another post.

No matter how you find the other persons contact information just make the time to Pick Up the Phone. You can shortcut a lot of confusion and reduce some of the consternation related to endless email threads and chat conversations.

Remember …

When in doubt … Just PUP It!

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Connect with me on Twitter @jshuey

Or connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google+

He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to
the Personal Branding Blog with over 250 articles published.

The Intersection of People and Process

Why "Time to Renewal" Is the Most Important Metric for Cloud Marketplace Success

Ebikes ... I am a fan. I am!

Partners and Platforms - Building Together - Part 3 of 3

Partners and Platforms - Moving Together - Part 2 of 3

Partners and Platforms - Working Together - Part 1 of 3

Sometimes the Journey IS the Destination

The End of an Era ... Fare Well LinkedIn Elevate

One Year That Changed My Life

Customer Service is a Process

A Year in The Gravel

Nobody is safe until everyone is safe

Shavings Make A Pile

Don't let the headlines ruin your day

Have some fun when Working From Home

The End of Business Cards as we know them

What's Keeping Your Attention?

NCAA Pay to Play and NIL Rights

Top 10 Highest-Paid Coaches in NCAA Football (source: link

Ableism with Haben Girma

RPA in the USA

Low Hanging Fruit is NOT always the best

The Setup in the Setback

Learn-it-All > Know-it-All > Do-it-All

LinkedIn Elevate … Your Career Secret Weapon

Carson V. Heady

He is the author of "Birth of a Salesman"​ and an all-around good guy.

Mastering the LinkedIn Pre-Announce

Just PUP It

He is the author of "Birth of a Salesman" and an all-around good guy.