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Bullish On Books
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Collapse of Distinction |
I wanted to share this book with you because it offers some clear actionable advice on what you and your company should be doing right now to break away from "the pack of the bland."
Below is a post written by Scott McKain, author of THE COLLAPSE OF DISTINCTION: Stand out and move up while your competition fails.
Like you, I watch the market via CNBC, read the business press, and keep track of stock reports and analysis on the Internet. We have access to a myriad of metrics, and an overabundance of opinion about what it all means.
Yet, there is one aspect that I’ve always found curiously missing as the gurus discuss ratios and trends: the role of distinctive customer engagement.
The more I research it, the more obvious it becomes: Bad businesses don’t have customers that are raving fans. Was any customer shedding tears over the demise of Circuit City? As a kid, I would lay awake at night, dreaming of a new Camaro. How many teens are now lusting after anything GM [GMGMQ
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When the companies that have this distinctive bond with customers continue to surprise us with earnings, it seems that experts seek to find alternative reasons for their success. We’re told that Southwest [LUV
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] is about the technology of their products – however, could it be that those attributes are only a part of their achievement? When the organizations that rise to the top are ones that focus more on customers than competitors, it isn’t a coincidence…it’s a clue!
How do you connect with customers in a profound manner?
First, you have to differentiate. In my new book, “Collapse of Distinction: Stand Out and Move Up While Your Competition Fails,” I outline “Three Destroyers of Differentiation” – the insidious aspects that pull you and your organization back to the pack of bland similarity.
Destroyer #1 is “Copycat Competition.” If I perceive you have an edge, my knee-jerk response is to imitate it. You try to make certain that I develop no advantages, as well. The unfortunate result is we eventually pay more attention to competitors than customers.
Destroyer #2 is “More and Better Competitors.” Just as the Interstate Highway brought fast-food retailers to countless communities, the Internet is dropping new – and tough – competition on your customer’s desktops for which you may not be prepared.
Destroyer #3 is that “Familiarity Breeds Complacency.” Unlike my Mom’s line about it breeding “contempt,” the fact is that the more accustomed your customer is with who you are and what you do, the more likely they are to simply take you for granted.
However, you have to take it to an even higher level to achieve profound results. That level – distinction – is earned when you become what my friend, author Joe Calloway, calls a “Category of One.” When your customers are so engaged that the competition is practically irrelevant, you have attained true distinction.
There are “Four Cornerstones of Distinction” that seem basic, yet are breathtakingly difficult to execute.
Cornerstone #1 is Clarity. I’m endlessly amazed at how few organizations and professionals can state precisely what their advantage is in the marketplace. They try to be all things to all prospects, or they just keep doing what they’ve always done. Two important points: First, if everyone else in your industry is citing a similar advantage (i.e., “great customer service”), then it is not a point of distinction. It’s the baseline industry standard. Second, you cannot differentiate what you cannot define. Be focused. Be precise.
Cornerstone #2 is Creativity. Distinct organizations are not creative across all aspects of the company. Rather, they have delineated all possible points of customer contact, and turned a solitary point into a creative advantage. Enterprise Rent-A-Car rents identical automobiles as their competition – the difference, as we know, is in how the customer obtains their product. Everywhere else, we go to them to get the car. At Enterprise, they “pick you up.” A small point of creativity – and it created the largest rental car company in the country.
Cornerstone #3 is Communication. Change how you relate to customers and employees. The vast majority of today’s consumer base learned their ABC’s not from the disciplined rote and repetition of olden days, but instead through engagement with characters like Bert & Ernie, the Cookie Monster, and Barney. What does that mean? Simply that we are enthralled by – and remember – compelling stories infinitely more than a endless recitation of facts, figures, and promotional material. I cannot recollect what car manufacturer’s ads were on this morning, but I vividly recall Mean Joe Greene trading a football jersey for a Coke decades ago.
Cornerstone #4 is a Customer Experience Focus. Distinctive organizations and professionals transcend transaction. They realize relationships are more important than mere sales. That overwhelming multitude of us who grew up learning through emotional connectivity with characters on television we truly cared about are now your customers and prospects seeking an experience from you. It’s not mere “customer service” – it’s providing some kind of connectivity that touches me personally and emotionally.
Look at what is currently happening to many companies in varied industries. A private equity firm acquires an organization and, to service the massive debt load, cuts costs by trimming sales staff, eliminating training and other aspects that created enhanced customer connections. Naturally, current clients perceive the reduction and, therefore, seek alternative places to spend their time and money. Which, of course, means that the numbers aren’t meeting the projections of the equity firm – so additional cuts must be made – maintaining the organizational death spiral.
I believe that we must examine how most of us in business were trained and educated. We were taught that you “can only manage what you measure,” so we focus upon the speed of delivery to the exclusion of the friendliness of the server.
Medical schools concentrate on the science and don’t focus enough on bedside manner; law schools center on the precedent and have too little emphasis on ethics; where are today’s problems in those disciplines? Business schools focus on metrics – spot a trend?
If you seek to stand out and move up, regardless of what your competition is doing, execute strategies that will enhance your distinction and create the kind of customer engagement and experience that makes you an extraordinary resource – and your competitor irrelevant.
To read more, check out the author's website, Collapse of Distinction or his blog, mckainviewpont.com
Questions or book suggestions for Bullish, send them to me at
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