In his new book the Salesforce.com CEO explains the methods
behind his particular brand of madness.
Benioff's books offers 111 tips for business success. Photo:
Salesforce.com
I got played by Marc Benioff.
Salesforce.com (CRM) CEO Benioff calls his forthcoming book,
Behind the Cloud, a "playbook" for would-be entrepreneurs and
executives. Benioff, who co-authored the book with journalist
Carlye Adler (a former colleague from Fortune's sister
publication, FSB), offers 111 business tips, or "plays," based
on his experiences launching and running the Salesforce.
And there I was, in Play #23: Reporters are Writers; Tell Them a
Story.
Okay, I wasn't mentioned by name, but he definitely was talking
about me and my peers in the media world. Benioff writes: "Salesforce.com…welcomed
journalists, encouraged them to mix with customers at events,
and eagerly introduced them to customers for interviews."
Call me exhibit A. After all, I procured my advance copy of the
book (due out Oct. 19) at a dinner in Manhattan where other
journalists and I mixed with customers to whom we were eagerly
introduced.
Benioff goes on to explain in Play #24: Cultivate Relationships
with Select Journalists and Play # 25: Make Your Own Metaphors
that telling a company's story to journalists is far better
public relations than an expensive ad campaign. A story or even
a pithy quote in a top business publication is far more
effective and credible than a full-page advertisement in same
newspaper or magazine. And Benioff played this strategy to his
advantage, positioning his company in the media as an innovative
David attacking old-school Golaiaths such as SAP (SAP),
Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM) and even Benioff's former employer,
Oracle. (ORCL)
To be sure, Benoiff's advice, or plays, go well beyond tips for
managing the media. He offers real insight into Salesforce.com's
own experiences building the company. (A Salesforce executive I
met at the company's New York customer dinner said he was
surprised by Benioff's disclosure that half Saleforce's
employees are in sales. The executive thought such information
was part of the company's secret sauce.) Such tidbits at times
help elevate Behind the Cloud from a platitude-filled business
tome to an insider-y playbook — surely the intent of Benioff and
his co-author.
That's not to say there aren't clichés in the book. Benioff is
generous in his praise of employees and friends – a good thing –
but all too often drops the term "genius" to describe everyone
from MC Hammer (seriously) to a direct-sales executive from
Japan.
He is most passionate when describing Salesforce's approach to
corporate philanthropy. The company contributes 1% of profits,
1% of equity and 1% of employees hours to the communities it
serves, and in the book, Benioff writes that the push to give
employees time to volunteer came out of an effort to give them a
sense of purpose he'd lacked at other employers. "Maybe the
volunteer program would prevent them from feeling as rudderless
as I had during my time at Oracle," he explains. (Play #66: Make
Your Foundation Part of Your Business Model.)
Benioff channeled that rudderless feeling, of course, into
forming Salesforce.com. And so by keeping employees motivated
Benioff not only increases employee satisfaction, he also
prevents some smart, disenchanted executive from running out and
starting the next Salesforce.
Source: Stephanie N. Mehta
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