I’m going to start a company so I can have what I need.
Mike Muhney, CEO, VIPorbit

But in the end, for something this complicated, it’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.
Steve Jobs

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Look, it’s time to acknowledge a simple truth. A lot of products and services are bad… And, a lot are good, but good doesn’t mean that everyone wants them.

People are different. And, we can’t say “you’re not all that sharp, are you?”, just because they reject our service, our product, our way…

But, when a product comes along that meets a real need – sometimes, a need we aren’t even aware that we have – then we say, “I think I’ll put that to use.”

I recently had breakfast with Mike Muhney. He co-created ACT! (CRM – contact relationship management). But, as interested as he is with managing contacts, he’s much more interested in managing relationships. No, that ‘s not quite right. As he said, you don’t manage relationships – you manage yourself, and you build and nurture relationships.

Here’s what he says on his blog post, CRM: You’re Doing it Wrong:

People do business with people they like. And people tend to like those who express genuine interest in them, not just what they have to offer to you.

In other words, if you don’t genuinely like people, if you don’t care, chances are the best tool in the world won’t help you much.

And, as his company states it simply (from this Forbes profile):

The vipOrbit vision statement sums up the goal: “People Matter. We believe in the infinite potential of closer relationships.”

So, he has built Vipor Plus to help him manage himself in building and nurturing relationships with people.

I’ve just bought the software for my iMac, and loaded it on my other devices. (It’s free for your iPad or iPhone. Yes, it’s Apple centric. And for an Apple guy like me, that’s wonderful!)

Now I’m learning how to use it. So that I can manage my relationships. No, that’s not quite right… So that I can better build and nurture my relationships.

And whatever tool you use to do that (do check out Vipor Plus), building and nurturing those relationships is the whole ball game.