Chapter 8 In an early startup environment, customer engagements are often shaped by in-the-moment decisions from frontline individuals. Having some form of customer-centric core values provides a unifying mantra that guides these decisions where processes and guidelines may not exist yet. Here are some examples of our early cultural values at Salesforce: Customers Come First CSMs were allowed, and expected, to experiment with many aspects of the role. The general theme was scale, and areas of focus included things like customer outreach and engagement methods, operational improvements, and the like. However, the needs of the customer were never compromised. Very early, reactive fire-fighting behaviors were expected and reinforced because they were effective and portrayed to the customer that they had an advocate looking out for their interests. These “dive catches” are often a necessary aspect of early-stage customer engagements. As a business matures, however, the need for operational repeatability and scale quickly become the priority, creating a need to evolve the definition of customer success. Individuals taking their own approach to what they think is best for the customer, however well-meaning, eventually becomes a challenge to solve for rather than an asset. As such, how you define and deliver customer success and advocacy should evolve with your business. Your challenge is to establish, and then redefine, organizational behaviors that maintain core values while supporting maturation needs. Alignment An often talked about alignment tool that Salesforce has used since day one is the V2MOM: vision, values, methods, obstacles, and metrics. Marc Benioff has discussed the V2MOM process in interviews and blogs, as well as in his 2009 book, Behind the Cloud. “I’ve always thought that the biggest secret of Salesforce is how we’ve achieved a high level of organizational alignment and communication while growing at breakneck speeds. Essentially, V2MOM is an exercise in awareness in which the result is total alignment. In addition, having a clarified direction and focusing collective energy on the desired outcome eliminate the anxiety that is often present in times of change.” — Marc Benioff, April 2013