Interview with Laura Patterson: Fully Reap the Rewards of Customer-Centricity
Laura Patterson, President at VisionEdge Marketing, Inc.
Location: Austin, Texas, United States
In this interview, Laura Patterson, President at VisionEdge Marketing, Inc., discusses how customer feedback inspired the launch of new initiatives aimed at supporting businesses with proven methodologies. She reflects on overcoming challenges in converting intellectual property into actionable products, emphasizing user-friendly technology and iterative development. Laura also explores the anticipated industry impact of her Accelance® framework and offers strategic advice for aspiring leaders to innovate through customer-centric strategies.
Who is driving the inception of your business initiatives?
Lucy, our customers are our primary source of inspiration. Our customers often ask us for tips, methodologies and best practices. As a result, one of our primary initiatives for 2024 was the launch of an online store designed to support individuals with limited resources through tested methodologies developed over 25 years of experience. In addition, all our customers are under pressure to demonstrate how the investments they are making are contributing to their respective company’s results. That’s why we initially developed our Accelance® framework, which is a patented Outcome-based Mapping™ methodology that creates direct-line-of-sight from a function’s activities and investments to specific quantifiable business outcomes. This year we transformed Accelance into a SaaS application available in our store and leverages a subscription model to minimize risk. We continue to be passionate about enabling the people in our community to grow their business by leveraging customer-centric strategies based on data-driven insights.
Can you discuss a significant challenge your team encountered during this project and the strategies employed to overcome it?
One of the most important tasks of any leader is to help their organization navigate challenges. Converting our intellectual property into tangible products was one of our biggest challenges. It’s one thing to transfer knowledge through conversation but quite another to provide concrete and actionable tools that people can leverage. Navigating this challenge involved deep dives into technology, ensuring that our software was user-friendly. We tackled this by working closely with developers, conducting rigorous testing, and iterating based on customer feedback.
How do you anticipate this initiative will impact your industry, and what are the long-term benefits you expect to achieve?
As far as we know, Accelance® is the only SaaS application that creates visual link between activities and business results, frames these links in customer-centric, measurable terms. It allows organizations to organize their work and performance around outcomes, ensuring optimal use of their resources. Our customers use the application to clearly see how their work contributes to their company and to answer the critical question of how they are making a difference. We strongly believe in teaching people how to fish, which is why a core value of our company is to help our customers upskill and elevate their people’s capabilities.
What strategies did you employ to ensure the successful launch and adoption of this project?
Before launching products based on time-tested proven methodologies, we researched best practices extensively to guide our development process and engaged in thorough research with actual users to ensure the products meet real needs and expectations. A key part of our messaging is We’re employing a variety of strategies to launch the store and the products within it. To ensure the successful launch and adoption of our workbooks, assessments, and Accelance®, we’re employing several downstream tactics. Time will tell how effective these are.
What key advice would you offer to aspiring business leaders who seek to innovate and drive change in their industries?
This is a big question, and we could come up with a long list😊. However, we often recommend starting with these three:
- Focus on Trends, Not Fads: Identify and invest in long-term trends shaping your industry that you can use to create customer-centric growth strategies, rather than getting caught up in short-lived fads.
- Keep Value Top of Mind: Develop strategies, products, and services that will create value for both your customers and your business.
- Customer-Centric Processes: All business run on processes. Design and regularly revise as needed your processes so they support and facilitate customer-centric decisions.
Thank you, Laura!
