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Putting customers at center of gravity
“Nobody ever got fired for buying from IBM.” What was IBM’s success formula?
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IBM logo. (Shutterstock.com/r.classen)
“Nobody ever got fired for buying from IBM” was a popular saying among computer salespeople in the 1970s and 1980s. Although this company entered the computer industry later than other big players, it soon achieved dominance in the fast-growing market.
What was IBM’s success formula? Some businesspeople, including executives of IMB’s competitors, went on to falsely assume that the answer was a superior product.
Although IBM products performed solidly, they usually did not come with the benefit of the latest innovations. IBM was an adopter of these innovations, but not often the leader.
IBM’s success secret was in offering total solutions X — rather than just standalone products — to its clients. Among others it offered methods of planning new business applications, training development staff and managing data. It pitched in when a system wasn’t working, diagnosing the problem and getting it back on track. It took care of planning that required new machines, which also needed upgrading, and how to integrate new technology.
