Customer Value Creation

The world of Robotics just changed overnight. And it’s been in the works for years. I still remember how excited we were when NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang gave a unique shout-out to Gideon at #GTC21 (check out the video below), hinting at what would eventually happen when the worlds of AI and Robotics collide. Jensen back then: "The signs are clear: accelerated computing doing AI at data center scale will give a giant boost in simulation performance." Jensen today: "Everything that moves in the future will be robotic." NVIDIA Robotics just announced a series of robotics breakthroughs at NVIDIA GTC, with a clear aim of democratizing the building of AI Robots with game-changing foundational components and tools: • Isaac Manipulator, a collection of state-of-the-art motion generation and modular AI capabilities for robotic arms, • Isaac Perceptor, Visual AI for Autonomous Mobile Robot (watch out if you’re building smart AMRs!), • GR00T, a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robot learning, • a new Jetson Thor-based computer for humanoid robots, built on the NVIDIA Thor SoC, • Isaac Lab for robot learning, • Isaac OSMO for hybrid-cloud workflow orchestration. Mindblowing. 😮 It validates what we at Gideon have believed in for the past 7 years: the future of flexible robots will be powered by advanced visual perception and AI. If you want to build meaningful robotics companies, there’s never been a better time. And it’s never been more important to: 1. Listen to your early customers and focus on adding value to them from day one. Build long-term relationships with their People and help them solve their top problems. 2. Specialize! Focus on solving one specific problem at a time. Do not build universal platforms, trying to tackle many problems at once. When customers hear about your company, they should immediately know you’re the best in the world to solve a specific problem they have. 3. Do not reinvent the wheel; use the off-the-shelf components whenever possible. 4. Data to train your robots is key. Generalized components and platforms will always miss industry-specific data and customer insights you should have access to, so use them to build. It’s your secret superpower and a future growth flywheel. 5. Make sure your robots talk to and cooperate well with other systems. 6. Do not underestimate the complexities of deploying AI robots in the real world, especially in commercial environments. Invest in people, processes, and tools to handle this properly early on. This will make or break you. The real world is nothing like your simulation environment. 7. Partner with key industry players to accelerate your growth (like we did with Toyota Material Handling Europe.) All the building blocks are finally coming together. What is the robot you’ll start working on today? #NVIDIA #JensenHuang #Robotics #AI #AIRobotics #VisualAI #VisualPerception #ComputerVision #GTC24 #AMR #AGV #MobileRobots #HumanoidRobots

Wheel for Sustainable Business Innovation 🌎 The sustainability landscape is evolving rapidly, and businesses are increasingly expected to integrate environmental and social considerations into their innovation processes. However, traditional innovation frameworks often fall short by focusing solely on customer needs, financial returns, and technical feasibility, leaving critical planetary challenges unaddressed. A more comprehensive approach is needed—one that embeds sustainability at the core of value creation. The 130+ Value Proposition Types Wheel is a practical tool that helps organizations frame innovation efforts across four key dimensions: People, Planet, Profit, and Progress. It provides over 130 value types that businesses can leverage to ensure their projects contribute meaningful solutions to global challenges such as climate action, resource efficiency, social inclusion, and technological advancement. This approach shifts the focus beyond immediate customer needs to include long-term sustainability impacts across entire ecosystems. By using structured frameworks like this, companies can link their innovation projects directly to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing critical issues such as climate resilience, biodiversity, and social equity. The tool also encourages the use of metrics to track progress, making sustainability-driven innovation more actionable and measurable across industries. It helps businesses unlock new forms of value while addressing both environmental risks and opportunities. The tool is adaptable to different phases of the innovation process, from identifying unmet needs to scaling solutions in the market. It guides organizations in understanding how their innovations create value in areas such as climate action, circularity, supply chain management, and stakeholder engagement. This makes it relevant for both B2B and B2C companies aiming to enhance their impact while future-proofing their operations. Originally developed by Explorer Labs, this tool has been referenced in the past and continues to remain highly useful as businesses advance their sustainability journeys. As 2025 begins, leveraging tools like this can help organizations move from incremental improvements to transformative solutions, embedding sustainability into innovation processes that deliver lasting value. #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #climatechange #innovation #SDGs

Strategic CSMs work renewals 6 months ahead of the due date. ⏳ They have time to de-risk accounts 🤝 They negotiate early and seamless renewals 🚀 They position growth opportunities aligned with value However, prioritising a large number of renewals can be challenging. The biggest mistake a CSM can make is spending too much time on the wrong customers and ending up with preventable churn. So... how can you work your renewals strategically? The best CSMs I know use the priority framework that looks at value vs. risk. 🤑 What's value? - How much the customer spends today - Their growth potential - How important the logo is for the business 🥵 What's risk? - How much value they are getting? - Are there critical product roadblocks? - How much friction are they experiencing? - What's their decision maker's sentiment? - Are there any competitors in the mix? Once you bucket customers into their respective value and risk profiles, you'll have a birds-eye view of your renewals. You can quantify how much falls into each bucket and make informed decisions on where to spend your time and energy. What I've seen yield the best results is: 1️⃣ Priority 1 is to de-risk high-value customers ahead of renewal. You have 6 months to turn around these customers before their renewal date. that's enough time to demonstrate value and regain trust. 2️⃣ Priority 2 is to secure the renewal and growth of healthy high-value customers. You have 6 months to position, demo, trial and negotiate the growth opportunity aligned with the renewal. This will give you the best chance of a seamless net-positive renewal, and it will decrease the chances of offering high discounts to close it in a tight timeline. 3️⃣ Priority 3 is to secure the renewal of low-value healthy customers. You should have an automated flow to help communicate value, validate risk and nurture the renewal of these customers. Wherever possible this should feel like a non-event. 4️⃣ Priority 4 is to turn around low-value, risky customers. The final piece is to find scalable ways to mitigate the risk of low-value customers. This is the most dangerous place, where CSMs get sucked in. Instead of working 1:1, CSMs should find the common themes across these customers and leverage other resources and scalable options like usage/adoption office hours to help them do more and get more value from your solution. This can be baked into your weekly blueprint, so you have focus time to work with a certain type of customer each day. The result? - Stop feeling burned out - Get better results - Achieve better work-life balance What's your strategy for working renewals strategically? 📥 If you're interested in scaling your Customer Success team, consider joining 8k+ CS Professionals who read my weekly newsletter on how to build and scale a CS Team [sign up in the comments section]. #customersuccess #CSM #customerexperience #renewals  #NRR

If more of your store sales start on TikTok lately, you might wanna read this. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦. The checkout happens in-store. But the sale happens everywhere else. Here's the reality: This year 60%+, and in 2027, 70% of retail sales will be digitally influenced. I can't emphasize this enough; here's what most brands miss—digital influence isn't just about online sales. It's about shaping every moment before the customer even walks into your store. L'Oréal cracked this code: 100M+ AR try-on sessions driving real conversions. 31 brands orchestrating seamless experiences across 72 countries. No.1 in beauty influencer marketing (29% market share), 20-80% higher conversion rates through enhanced digital experiences. The new customer journey isn't linear—it's layered: - They discover you on social - Research you through reviews and UGC - Try your product virtually through AR - Get retargeted with personalized content - Finally purchase in-store (feeling confident they're making the right choice) Every touchpoint matters, and every interaction influences the final decision. The brands winning today aren't just selling products—they're orchestrating experiences across owned, paid, and earned media that guide customers from curiosity to checkout. Digital discovery is increasingly pay-to-play and shoppers are paying attention. ++ Tactical Recommendations for CPG / FMCG Brands ++ 1. Beyond just having perfect, high SOV product pages, create discovery ecosystems. - Optimize for "zero-moment-of-truth" searches. - Activate shoppable content at scale. - Leverage user-generated content as social proof. Brands that do these see a 35% higher conversion rate from digital touchpoints to in-store purchases. 2. Connect digital engagement directly to retail execution. - Geo-target digital campaigns to drive foot traffic - Create "store-specific" digital content CPG brands using geo-targeted social ads see a 23% higher in-store sales lift in targeted markets. 3. Most important one; stop flying blind—measure digital influence on offline sales. - Implement unique promo codes for each digital touchpoint to track conversion paths. - Use customer surveys at point of purchase. - Partner with retailers on shared data insights Brands with proper attribution see 15-25% improvement in marketing ROI within 12 months. 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 ecommert® 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟰,𝟲𝟬𝟬+ 𝗖𝗣𝗚, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘁® : 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. #CPG #FMCG #AI #ecommerce Procter & Gamble PepsiCo Unilever The Coca-Cola Company Nestlé Mondelēz International Kraft Heinz Ferrero Mars Colgate-Palmolive Henkel Bayer Haleon Kenvue The HEINEKEN Company Carlsberg Group Philips Samsung Electronics Panasonic North America

How I Prioritize as a Program Manager at Amazon One of the toughest parts of being a program manager is deciding what gets attention when everything feels important. At Amazon, where the pace is fast and the stakes are high, I’ve learned that effective prioritization isn’t just a skill—it’s a necessity. Here are three approaches that help me stay focused and move the needle: 1️⃣ Impact vs. Effort Matrix When juggling multiple projects, I map tasks based on how much impact they’ll have versus how much effort they’ll take. High-impact, low-effort items? Those are no-brainers. Low-impact, high-effort tasks? They often end up on the backlog or get re-evaluated. This simple framework keeps me and my teams working smarter. 2️⃣ Customer Obsession At Amazon, the customer always comes first. Before prioritizing, I ask myself: How will this improve the customer experience? If an idea doesn’t bring clear value to the customer, it’s either deprioritized or reconsidered. It’s a principle that keeps us grounded in what really matters. 3️⃣ Time for Big-Picture Thinking Amid the daily fire drills, it’s easy to let long-term planning slip. I’ve started blocking time on my calendar specifically for strategic thinking. This helps me step back, focus on the bigger picture, and ensure we’re not just putting out fires but also building for the future. Prioritization is messy, and it’s not always perfect. But these methods have helped me find clarity in the chaos and deliver meaningful results. How do you decide what deserves your attention when everything feels important? #Leadership #Prioritization #CustomerObsessed #ProgramManagement

2025 is NOT the year to play it safe. “Post more content” “Run some ads” “Hop on TikTok trends” Boring. Overdone. And a waste of resources if you don’t have a strategy. Here’s what’s ACTUALLY working this year: 1/ Community-led growth > Vanity metrics The best brands aren’t just selling a product, they’re creating movements. Invest in ambassador programmes, founder-led content and real conversations over flashy marketing. 2/ "Unfiltered" branding & content Polished, corporate-speak is out. Raw, behind-the-scenes storytelling is in. Customers want to see the humans behind the brand, not another Canva template. 3/ Partnership marketing > Paid ads Impact-driven brands thrive on trust, and trust doesn’t come from a half-assed ad. Smart brands are teaming up with aligned businesses, influencers and communities to cross-promote and build credibility. 4/ Founder visibility is non-negotiable Customers, investors and partners want to hear from real humans behind a brand, not a faceless company. If you’re not showing up on LinkedIn, podcasts and interviews, you’re losing out. 5/ Authentic DEI, not just buzzwords Consumers can sniff out performative activism a mile away. Brands that embed inclusivity and accessibility into their DNA (not just their marketing campaigns) will build long-term loyalty. 2025 belongs to the brands that lead with connection, storytelling and genuine impact.

Before you buy that Gucci bag or Louis Vuitton gown, here’s a secret they’ve gated for years: While luxury brands advertise their most extravagant products, most of their revenue comes from entry-level items. Understanding this strategy can offer valuable insights into how luxury brands build desire and drive sales — a lesson that could be applied to any business. Let's break down some of these interesting strategies: 1️⃣ The red handbag theory: Brands prominently advertise their most extravagant creations, not as primary revenue generators, but as brand elevation tools. These pieces serve to reinforce the brand's prestige and craftsmanship. For example, Chanel's haute couture collections, while exclusive, significantly boost the brand's luxury image. 2️⃣ The trickle-down effect: While high-end items capture attention, more attainable luxury goods often drive the majority of revenue. Chanel exemplifies this strategy with its beauty line, particularly fragrances and cosmetics. While their iconic tweed suits and handbags maintain the brand's luxury image, it's the more accessible lipsticks and perfumes that contribute significantly to their sales volume 3️⃣ The psychology of aspiration: The aura of exclusivity created by high-end offerings extends to the brand's entire product range. By showcasing ultra-luxurious items, brands create an emotional connection with consumers. People aren't just buying products; they're buying into a lifestyle, a dream. Even if someone can't afford the $10,000 watch, the $500 cardholder feels like a piece of that luxurious world. Bernard Arnault's LVMH empire shows this strategy well. While Louis Vuitton’s famous bags and Hennessy's rare cognacs make headlines, LVMH’s more accessible brands like Sephora help it stay on top. This strategy balances exclusivity with accessibility to keep the luxury appeal strong while driving significant sales. What other examples can you think of where this approach works well? Comment below! #luxury #secrets #industry #strategy #brands

In November, I got to partner with several smart SaaS CMOs up close. There’s been a clear shift in thinking the last couple years. Here’s how they’re driving pipeline for 2025: They don’t “spray and pray” for MQLs. They “surround sound” their highest value accounts and segments. In the growth at all costs era (2020-2022), we were obsessed with MORE. > More headcount > More activity > More form fills > More MQLs This spraying and praying kinda “worked” in the short-term because eager SaaS buyers had lots of free budget and little scrutiny for new purchases. Then buyer rigor returned. And the smart SaaS CMOs got back to fundamentals. They create a “surround sound” effect within carefully defined ICPs and segments. They are anti-stray and pray — focused on quality pipeline instead of just quantity. How did they make this shift? 1.) Nailing their ICP model. -- Not just a PowerPoint, making it actionable for sales and marketing (where Keyplay helps). -- Fighting hard against “we can sell to everyone.” 2.) Getting smarter about segments & verticals. -- Where do they double down? What new segments do they explore? 3.) Narrowing targeting. -- Instead of spending a little across a lot of accounts, spend a lot for a smaller number. Be everywhere for your top tier. 4.) Tailoring content for those top accounts and segments. -- Not just ABM ads - thought leadership, events, etc. The smart b2b marketing leaders are leaning into these principles in 2025. I love the “surround sound” idea. I call it ICP Marketing. Whatever you call it, the road to GTM excellence is about focus. Anti spray and pray is the way. #b2b #marketing #ICP

FMCG Giants Built Their Empires on Brand Power. Consumers Today Care More About Value Power. In the early days of my career, brand loyalty was almost sacred. Consumers gravitated towards names they recognized—trusting them implicitly. But the landscape has shifted dramatically. → In 2024, private label sales in the U.S. surged by 3.9%, reaching a record $271 billion, outpacing the 1% growth of national brands. → In Europe, private labels now command nearly 40% of FMCG value share and approximately 62% of volume share across major markets like France, Germany, and the UK. FoodNavigator.com What's Driving This Shift? → Economic Pressures: With inflation impacting household budgets, consumers are seeking affordable alternatives without compromising on quality. Oliver Wyman → Enhanced Quality: Modern private labels have evolved, offering products that rival national brands in both taste and performance. The US Sun → Retailer Strategies: Companies like Walmart and Target are investing heavily in their private label lines, introducing brands like Bettergoods and Dealworthy, which have seen sales volumes increase by over 200% in 2024. Talk Business & Politics Implications for FMCG Brands → Rethink Value Proposition: It's no longer just about brand recognition. Consumers are evaluating products based on quality, price, and alignment with their values. → Innovate Continuously: Stagnation is a risk. Brands must invest in R&D to stay ahead of evolving consumer preferences. → Strengthen Retail Partnerships: Collaborating closely with retailers can provide insights into consumer behavior and preferences, enabling brands to adapt more effectively. The FMCG industry is undergoing a transformation. While brand heritage remains valuable, it's imperative to adapt to the changing dynamics. Emphasizing value, quality, and innovation will be key to staying relevant in this new era. #FMCG #PrivateLabel #ConsumerTrends #BrandStrategy #Innovati

🔥 My "Friday Challenge" for each of us: Are Customers Really at the Center? I'm so thankful DISQO we challenge ourselves across every part of our company to "Champion the Customer" (yup, it's one of our 4 Values). Yet here’s a hard truth for leaders (and myself, when I choose to look in the mirror): Too many of us are still building systems, dashboards, and org charts that serve ourselves and not our customers. We say “customer first” but then: ❌ Incentives reward closing deals, not driving outcomes ❌ Processes are optimized for internal efficiency, not customer clarity ❌ Systems force customers to re-explain their goals at every handoff ❌ Leadership meetings spend more time on pipeline than on customer outcomes, wins, and health If we are honest, these are not “customer first” choices. They are company-first defaults. 💡 Whether you're a designated "leader" or an individual contributor, each of us has a choice, every day: ✅ Am I running hard for my own goals, or running toward outcomes that matter for customers? ✅ Am I making it easier for the customer to succeed, or harder? ✅ Am I speaking up when internal process gets in the way of impact? ⚡ And if you are a CS and/or Post-Sales leader, and want “customer first” to be more than a slogan, here is where to start: 1️⃣ Redefine success metrics. Track ROI delivered, time-to-value, adoption milestones, and advocacy, not just renewal percentages. 2️⃣ Build seamless handoffs. Stop making customers repeat themselves. Tie Sales, CS, Support, and Product data into one continuous story. 3️⃣ Make outcomes a board-level topic. Carve out real time in executive meetings to review customer value delivery through telling the customers' story (versus focusing only on revenue) 4️⃣ Rewire incentives. Ensure bonuses and recognition reward customer impact, not just closed deals or activity volume. 5️⃣ Elevate Post-Sales as Next-Sales. Position CS and Post-Sales not as cost centers, but as engines of growth fueled by customer outcomes. Putting customers at the center is not a slogan. It is the hardest, most important discipline we practice. 🏁 So here’s the challenge as we close the week: 👉 Leaders, redesign your systems around outcomes. 👉 Teams, bring your best energy to the customer moments that matter most. If we do both, we stop running in circles and start running together (of course I had to tie this back to running 🏃). #Leadership #CustomerSuccess #PostSales #NextSales #CreateTheFuture #Growth #CustomerExperience