One might think that after 15 years of dealing with executives, I would no longer be surprised by what I encounter in the offices and boardrooms of corporations.  Not so.  It was during a recent engagement, with one of America’s largest professional services organizations, I’ll call them Client X, that I found myself astounded at the behavior of the company’s top executives. 

Client X had hired us to develop two webinars for an intended audience of sales prospects. We had several interviews scheduled with five or six of the company's top executives, so I prepared myself to answer plenty of repetitive questions about our unorthodox approach to marketing. Typically clients have a hard time believing that the less we talk about their company and its products and services and the more we talk about the world of the customer, the better the results of the webinar will be.  But we soon found out that little about this company or this engagement would be typical.

On the day we dialed in to our first teleconference, we were confronted with a very personable and passionate executive. Her view on the world of the customer was in-depth, up-close and personal. She displayed a level of intimacy about the business lives of her customers that is by all standards, rare.

We commented on how refreshing the first interview had been and crossed our fingers for more of the same. Feeling sure we had hit on an anomaly, we met the next day to speak with the company’s top sales executive. Deep down we expected our interviewee, responsible for overseeing revenue-generation in 21 markets across America, to give us a glorified sales presentation.

Passion proves to be an epidemic

To our surprise, this meeting continued with much the same energy as the first. This executive shared his experience, having walked in the same shoes as his clients for 15 years before joining the company.  He took us through a day in the life of his current clients.  He clearly identified with their joys, challenges and pains.  It’s as though he had channeled the very spirit of his customers into the room with us.

Surely, we’d just lucked out.  Perhaps the client had been coached on our unique presentation style.  By the third interview our suspicions about this company were confirmed.  Either something was in the water or what first appeared to be an isolated case of passion was actually a full-blown epidemic.

Plugged in, connected, and all the way there

Interview after interview, executive after executive, we heard the same thing.  These people were plugged in, connected and all the way there.  There was something so genuine, so natural, and so intimate about how they viewed their customers.  It was only later that I truly understood the power of what we had experienced.   

This was not a group of individuals practicing what they had learned in a seminar or on the latest company retreat. These individuals were leading with their hearts and it showed. There is absolutely no faking that kind of passion. 

What affect does this kind of customer intimacy and passion have on market-leadership?  Client X generated almost $900 million dollars in revenue last year and has made Fortune’s “America’s Most Admired Companies” list for four years.  Proof positive that a company can be intimate with customers, a market leader in its field and wildly successful all at the same time.