Lawn Gnome

As I mentioned in my last post in this series, the internet has moved the balance of power decidedly into customers’ hands. Some larger institutions have yet to realize that this fundamental shift has taken place. The focus of your thinking needs to move from inside-out to outside-in.

As we continue to try to piece together the tattered remains of our economy, it is more important than ever to understand what customers want.

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Jeffrey Zeldman posted an article the other day previewing Internet Explorer 9. More specifically, he rakes Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft’s General Manager for Internet Explorer, over the coals for some of the language in his IE9 blog entry. According to Zeldman, Hachamovitch “brags” about the new features of the browser. He says that the writer should have adopted a more personal, down-to-earth tone.

I am not going to take sides. Myself, I think this situation is a good illustration of a writer (the MS fellow) not understanding his audience. Engineers and other technical types, even more than others, do not react well to bloviation of any kind. In Hachamovitch’s defense, the article didn’t seem that boastful to me, but after reading the comments at the bottom of the post, I’d say that I am not a typical reader of that kind of blog. Hachamovitch didn’t understand his audience. Or maybe he was edited. Who can say?

Anyway, understanding one’s audience is crucial.

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