My experiences on being a seller as well as customer. I have been both the provider of service and a customer - not necessarily in software business. In any business, customer and seller relationships exist.
Once customer agrees to buy a product (be it under development or off the shelf) he is no more a king!. He becomes dependent on either the product or the seller. Dependency on a product requires continuous supply of consumables. Dependency on a seller, requires to sign service / maintenance contracts. What customer can only choose is better way to spend money. Computers and Software products are particularly notorious in this regard.
Just to get the taste for yourself, all your money is right now in the hands of a software system of your bank, and, you will not be able to eat anything unless you 'purchase' something, be it food, grocery, gas or electricity.
Almost all of us are the slaves of some system or other, with the illusion of being a king! Whole business world confirms to universal truth...
Create an illusion of being a king by managing slavery!*
Barber is a seller. He knows the secret but cannot say it in open.
Donkey's ears are the inevitable dependency which king also knows, he cannot get rid of.
Crown is the illusion of being the king which has to hide a bitter secret.
Barber is under life threat, - the fear of losing business.
Ultimately, the king is the customer... with donkey's ears!
That is the reality of today's business world......
This unique power makes him the king, or the emperor!
[* The software principle : Create an illusion of simplicity by managing complexity]
Customer is the King
True that! Because he is paying money to get his work done, and money is what you want to make! So in order to make more money we make customer the king of business. He gets requirements stated or changed, he defines quality and finally signs off the deliverable which opens the money gate. He is definitely in a commanding position when the product is being built.Customer is an Emperor
... when customer is in Japan! Japanese people take every thing to a different level. They treat customer not only like king, but like an emperor!. Customer's words are treated as imperial orders, obeyed precisely and deliveries made. Deliveries are not just deliveries they are submissions of duties in honor of the emperor. This is definitely worth taking an experience.Customer is a Fool!
While in some parts of the world, customer is an emperor, in other parts customer is treated as a fool. Seller has no respect for customer, and always enforces choices, prices and services. Go to any city in India and ask for a rickshaw ride to hotel / site seeing place, and you will immediately find you are a fool. This also is worth taking an experience!A bitter truth!
If you look deeper, you will find a very different picture. While giving customer an illusion of being a king, sellers get control of the whole system. With the hope of getting the product right, customer makes himself vulnerable enough to get severely trapped.Once customer agrees to buy a product (be it under development or off the shelf) he is no more a king!. He becomes dependent on either the product or the seller. Dependency on a product requires continuous supply of consumables. Dependency on a seller, requires to sign service / maintenance contracts. What customer can only choose is better way to spend money. Computers and Software products are particularly notorious in this regard.
Just to get the taste for yourself, all your money is right now in the hands of a software system of your bank, and, you will not be able to eat anything unless you 'purchase' something, be it food, grocery, gas or electricity.
Almost all of us are the slaves of some system or other, with the illusion of being a king! Whole business world confirms to universal truth...
Create an illusion of being a king by managing slavery!*
A childhood story....
I remembered a childhood story. Once upon a time a king had donkey's ears, but nobody knew as he always covered his head with crown. Only the barber knew, but he was under life threat should he disclose the secret. Keeping secret became so much unbearable for the barber, he went to a remote forest, dug a hole and shouted into it, "The king has donkey's ears!!!". Feeling relieved, he returned to the kingdom. but.... as the winds blew through the forest, it made sound..."The king has donkey's ears!!!" Ultimately, the secret broke out anyway.
Barber is a seller. He knows the secret but cannot say it in open.
Donkey's ears are the inevitable dependency which king also knows, he cannot get rid of.
Crown is the illusion of being the king which has to hide a bitter secret.
Barber is under life threat, - the fear of losing business.
Ultimately, the king is the customer... with donkey's ears!
That is the reality of today's business world......
But this one thing makes customer unique!
Being a software developer, I am at one end of the chain - building Technical Solution. Customer is at another - the one in dire need. All remaining links in between are necessary evil. The process, tools, systems, standards, documentation, management(!). When these evils start doubting the technical and commercial success of the solution, customer is the only one who comes to your rescue! He can stand by your side, saying how the solution is useful and how to make it commercially feasible. He is the only authority to sign off!, to spare life!This unique power makes him the king, or the emperor!
[* The software principle : Create an illusion of simplicity by managing complexity]
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