Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

One of the reasons I became a “Corporate America Refugee” is that we spent just about all of our time meeting to plan other meetings (1); designing presentations to give to others in the company; watching those others give their presentations; and reading second and third-hand accounts of “market trends” and “market sizing.” Talk to customers? Nahhh….that was the job of those cubicle slaves down in customer service. We were too busy talking and - um - interfacing with each other; making sure the CEO didn’t explode all over our careers; and figuring out who had the biggest and best office (Note from Facilities: “I’m sorry, you can’t have a second file cabinet in your office, you’re only a grade 5.”)

Kathy Sierra sums it all up (again - how does she do it?), with “Oops, We Forgot the Users.” I nearly snorted coffee out of my nose. Hilarious and true! Go. Check out her bingo games. Then, gee, I dunno, maybe go talk to a customer (live and in person would really be fun!) Or, print out her bingo cards and get your product development team together and play (seriously.)

(1) According to a 2006 online survey conducted by Microsoft, American workers spend an average of 5.5 hours each week in meetings Yet, 71% of survey respondents indicated their meetings weren’t productive. Yes, we’re too busy trying to nab the last Krispy Kreme without looking piggy

Tags: Customer Service, marketing, marketing troubleshooting, product development