Amazon's strategic account manager shares tips, tricks on customer focus with Business Club, JKKNIU

The Business Club of Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University (JKKNIU) held a session on the critical business topic of "Customer Focus" on Wednesday, 26th June 2024. The virtual event, conducted over Zoom, featured Shameel Murtaz, a strategic account manager at Amazon, who provided attendees with invaluable insights and strategies for customer-centric business practices.

Murtaz commenced the session by sharing his personal journey, tracing his early life and education in Bangladesh. He elaborated on the motivations that propelled him towards a career at Amazon, highlighting his enduring passion for innovation and customer satisfaction. Discussing his professional trajectory, Murtaz detailed the crucial steps that facilitated his transition from Bangladesh to Amazon. He candidly recounted the challenges he faced during this period and the resilience and strategic planning that enabled him to overcome them.

A highlight of the session was Murtaz's discussion on Amazon's "Two-Pizza Team" rule, a unique team management philosophy. This concept suggests that teams should be small enough to be fed with just two pizzas, promoting agility, efficiency, and closer collaboration. He explained how this approach helps maintain high productivity and customer focus, as smaller teams can quickly adapt and foster better communication.

The session delved deeply into the significance of customer focus for entrepreneurs. Murtaz emphasized the critical role of customer focus for new entrepreneurs, associating it with sustainable business success. He discussed how understanding customer needs can drive innovation, particularly within startups. Providing practical advice, he outlined initial steps entrepreneurs should take to ensure a customer-focused approach from the outset, and offered methods for effectively gathering and analyzing customer feedback.

Strategies for cultivating a customer-centric culture in startups were shared, with Murtaz underscoring the long-term benefits. He provided a glimpse into Amazon's training programs for prioritizing customer needs, presenting valuable lessons for new businesses. Highlighting ways for startups to maintain a strong customer focus as they grow and scale, he discussed common pitfalls entrepreneurs face and strategies to avoid them.

Advice was also offered on balancing innovative ideas with customer feedback to ensure a harmonious approach to product development. Mr. Murtaz addressed instances when entrepreneurs should prioritize their vision over customer feedback, providing a nuanced perspective.

In addition, Murtaz recommended various tools and techniques for entrepreneurs to better understand their customers and shared inspiring success stories of startups excelling due to their customer focus. He offered personal advice on maintaining a customer-first approach in new businesses and shared tips on keeping teams motivated to continuously innovate with the customer in mind.

The session was adeptly hosted by Md. Siam Hosen, the esteemed President of the Business Club. Under his dynamic leadership, the club continues to organize impactful and educational events for its members, fostering a culture of learning and growth.

The Business Club of JKKNIU extends its gratitude toShameel Murtaz for his valuable insights and looks forward to more such enriching sessions in the future.