People Connect With People First, Companies Second

During the Pardot journey I’d talk to customers at tradeshows like Dreamforce and ask about their experience as a customer. At first I was expecting feedback and input on the product — what worked well, what didn’t work well, etc. — only the feedback was always about the people. Comments like “we love X on the sales team” or “Y is great to work with.” While customers thought Pardot was great, it was really the people at Pardot they loved.

People connect with people first, companies second.

As much as we like to talk about our cool technology and awesome startups, the ones that people really engage with do so because of the people they interact with at the company. There’s a reason the “service” part of Software-as-a-Service is more important than the “software” part — good products make for good customers, good service makes for raving fans.

Remember that people connect with people above all else.

What else? What are some more thoughts on the idea that people connect with people first, companies second?