What can we as b2b marketers learn from Steve Jobs?

A long time ago in a garage far, far away....

1977 was a year like no other... a dude from San Francisco made a low budget film that went on to influence a generation and become the most significant addition to pop culture since The Beatles. That dude went by the name of George Lucas.

While the rebellion raged against the Empire, another dude, also from San Francisco, emerged from his garage with a cobbled together motherboard called the Apple I. This second dude, one Steve Jobs, has since gone on to revolutionise the computing, music, telephony and digital distribution markets with equal aplomb and all on an annual salary of $1. But how has he done this, why does he continue to do it and what can we as b2b marketers learn from his modus operandi?

You could simply use the Force. But if your Jedi skills are not as strong as you’d like, Carmine Gallo, a BusinessWeek.com columnist has identified seven principles that have made Steve Jobs the man he is today and consequently, Apple the global business success it is.

With our global economy in the jaws of the worst recession in decades, how can you emerge from the recession stronger, more inspired and more innovative than ever? It’s quite simple really, ask yourself “What would Steve Jobs do?”

I will do what I love.
In 2005, Steve Jobs told Stanford University’s graduating class that the secret to success is having “the courage to follow your heart and intuition”. Inside, he suggested, you “already know what you truly want to become”. Jobs has followed his heart his entire career, and that passion, he says, has made all the difference. It’s very difficult to come up with new, creative ideas that move society forward if you are not passionate about the subject. “I think you should go get a job as a busboy or something until you find something you’re really passionate about," Jobs once said. “I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non successful ones is pure perseverance... unless you have a lot of passion about this, you’re not going to survive. You’re going to give up.”

I will put a dent in the universe.
Steve Jobs attracts evangelists who share his vision and who help turn his ideas into world-changing innovations. He has never underestimated the power of vision to move a brand forward. In 1976, Steve Wozniak was captivated by Jobs’ vision to “put a computer in the hands of everyday people.” Wozniak was the engineering genius behind the Apple I and the Apple II, but it was Jobs’ vision that inspired Wozniak to focus his skills on building a computer for the masses. Jobs’ vision was intoxicating because it had four components that all inspiring visions share: It was 1) bold, 2) specific, 3) concise, and 4) consistently communicated.

In 1979, Jobs took a tour of the Xerox research facility in Palo Alto, California. There he saw a new technology that let users interact with the computer via colourful graphical icons on the screen instead of entering complex line commands. It was called a “graphical user interface.” In that moment, Jobs knew that this technology would allow him to fulfil his vision of putting a computer in the hands of everyday people.

He went back to Apple and refocused his team on building the computer that would eventually become the Macintosh and forever change the way we talked to computers. Jobs later said that Xerox could have “dominated” the computer industry but instead its “vision” was limited to building another copier.

I will create insanely great experiences.
Steve Jobs has made the Apple Store the gold standard in customer service. The Apple Store has become the world’s best retailer – generating more revenue per square foot than most other brands – by introducing simple innovations any business can adopt to create deeper, more emotional connections with its customers. For example, there are no cashiers in an Apple store. There are experts, consultants, even geniuses, but no cashiers. According to Jobs, “People don’t want to just buy personal computers anymore. They want to know what they can do with them, and we’re going to show people exactly that.”

I will kick start my brain.
Creativity leads to innovative ideas. For Steve Jobs, creativity is connecting things. He believes that a broad set of experiences expands our understanding of the human experience. A broader understanding leads to breakthroughs that others may have overlooked or missed.

Breakthrough innovation requires creativity, and creativity requires that you think differently about the way you think. Scientists who study the way the brain works have discovered that innovators like Jobs do think differently, but they use a technique available to all of us – they seek out diverse experiences. This is a reminder of the story behind Apple’s name. The idea fell from a tree, literally. Jobs had returned from visiting a commune-like place in Oregon located in an apple orchard. Apple co-founder and Jobs’ pal, Wozniak, picked him up from the airport. On the drive home, Jobs simply said, “I came up with a name for our company – Apple.” Wozniak said they could have tried to come up with more technical-sounding names but their vision was to make computers approachable.

I will sell dreams, not products.
Steve Jobs doesn’t rely on focus groups. “Steve Jobs avoids most focus groups like the plague,” says tech analyst Rob Enderle. “It comes down to the very real fact that most customers don’t know what they want in a new product.” Apple customers should be glad Jobs doesn’t do focus groups. If he had, they may never have enjoyed iPods, iTunes, the iPhone, the iPad, or Apple Stores. He does not need focus groups because he understands his customers really, really well. Yes, sometimes better than they know themselves!

When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 after a 12-year absence, Apple faced an uncertain future. Jobs closed his presentation that year at Macworld in Boston with an observation that set the tone for Apple’s resurgence: “I think you have to think differently to buy an Apple computer. I think the people who do buy them do think differently. They are the creative spirits in this world. They are people who are not out to get a job done; they are out to change the world. And they are out to change the world using whatever great tools they can get. And we make tools for those kinds of people. A lot of times people think they’re crazy, but in that craziness we see genius.”

Sure, “listen” to your customers and ask them for feedback. Apple does that all the time. But when it comes to breakthrough success at Apple, Jobs and his team are the company’s best focus group. Asked why Apple doesn’t do focus groups, Jobs responded: “We figure out what we want. You can’t go out and ask people ‘What’s the next big thing?’ There’s a great quote by Henry Ford. He said, “If I’d have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me ‘A faster horse.’”

I will say no to 1,000 things.
Steve Jobs once said the secret to innovation is “Saying no to 1,000 things.” In other words, Jobs is as proud of what Apple does not do as he is about what Apple does choose to pursue. He is committed to building simple, uncluttered design. This philosophy allows Apple to build a continuous stream of products that wows and delights customers for their elegance and simplicity.

In October 2008, Apple introduced its next-generation MacBook laptop computer. Jobs invited Apple design guru Jonathan Ive on stage to explain the new process of building mobile computers, a process that allowed Apple to offer notebooks that were lighter and sturdier. Ive told the audience that Apple’s new “aluminum unibody enclosure” eliminated 60 percent of the computer’s major structural parts. Reducing the number of parts naturally made the computer thinner. Contrary to what you’d expect, eliminating parts also made it more rigid and robust – the computer was stronger. According to Ive, “We are absolutely consumed by trying to develop a solution that is very simple, because as physical beings we understand clarity.”

Your customers demand simplicity, and simplicity requires that you eliminate anything that clutters the user experience – whether in product design, website navigation, marketing and advertising materials, or presentation slides. Say “no” more often than “yes.”

I will master the message.
You can have the most innovative idea in the world, but if you can’t get people excited about it, it doesn’t matter. For every idea that turns into a successful innovation, there are thousands of ideas that never gain traction because the people behind those ideas fail to tell a compelling story.

Steve Jobs is considered one of the greatest corporate storytellers in the world because his presentations inform, educate and entertain. By giving extraordinary presentations, he stands out as a leader and communicator. We are all judged to a large degree on our ability to communicate what we do. The big difference between extraordinary communicators and the average leader is that people like Jobs use presentations to complement the message. The speaker is the storyteller; PowerPoint slides (or in Jobs’ case, Apple Keynote slides) serve merely as a backdrop to the story.

This blog is based on an extract taken from our recently published b2b Zeitgeist - for more information or to order your free copy visit www.b2bzeitgeist.co.uk