From iOS to eOS: An “operating system” for customer value conversations

That?iPhone?in your hand?doesn’t only make planning your vacation a breeze. It also promises dreams fulfilled. From first day to last, the trip unspools exactly as envisioned because your phone's iOS brims with apps that do navigation, checklists, translating, payments, tickets - everything but your packing.

Imagine, then,?an iOS for all of your important customer value?conversations.?Like using that iOS for vacation planning, you’re plotting your customer’s success based on value.?

You’ll find the?Ecosystems?collaborative software platform can serve as an operating system. Let’s?call it?the eOS,?an eco?operating system?holding?all?the important?customer-value conversations.?From first meeting the prospect all the way to a raving fan customer, the eOS provides?the power to engage in collaborative?discovery conversations based on business outcomes, identify success KPIs, build a value journey with your customer, and ultimately track actual value delivered while highlighting future value opportunities.

I recently chatted about?the?holistic conversation toward value?with? Geoffrey Moore ?bestselling author and guest advisor to the Customer Value Community. Geoff?found an example in his work with?Salesforce. There, he told me, they transformed an internal planning framework – the one detailing vision, value, methods, obstacles and measures?– into?a?model?for equally impactful conversations with prospects and customers.

Gathering those tools?creates a space for collaborating with?customers?to shape a?vision,?articulate?the values?behind it, and?chart a?methodology?for getting there, Geoff explained.?It's the place for dynamic discussions of what feels right to the customer, what doesn't, the obstacles you can conquer together, and the metrics that hold both of you accountable.

“It’s just a great conversation to have" he said. When B2B players hold that conversation in Act II, before the sale closes, the closing process itself is infused with direction. As Geoff put it, it’s about?future-forward questions?that ask, “How are we going to do customer success??How are we doing to do business value realization?”

Funnel?those conversations and conclusions?through the Ecosystems eOS, and it’s?like that iPhone loaded with?the apps corralling your?vacation details.?Collaborative conversations generate value, and value becomes vision elevated to reality. That's the next direction for customer value conversations. Now, if only the eOS could do my packing for the next family ski trip.