Creating distinction is critical for small businesses to survive. Larger companies with established brands will have a longer stay without distinction but overtime their market cap will erode if they don’t create new value for customers. Scott’s book shows us how to create distinction.
Why is this important to me?
I always want to ask this question as if I am sitting in your shoes. Will this summary benefit you if you review it? Incremental innovation is like a staircase for product improvement. Once your product or process is released then through thought and engineering they get better.
Is the customer always right? This is a rhetorical question because customers do not always know what they want.
Henry Ford said it best: “If we did a customer survey in 1929, the customer would have suggested faster horses.” This is the rub with surveys in general and only focuses on incremental innovation.
I am going to profile the 4 cornerstones of distinction outlined by Scott. Quick note: We run an enterprise software company and our customers are our lifeblood. If we listen to everything they tell us about the product then incremental innovation will take off. If we are not careful then our product will become obsolete because true innovation is missed. Paradigm shifts do not happen with simple feature requests. Customers did not request IPods.
1. Clarity – Defining who you are as an organization is critical for differentiation. You cannot be all things to all people. Case in point: The Dodge Viper was a sports car created by Bob Lutz. The first rendition of the car had no top, the doors did not open and it had no bells and whistles. It was designed for the true sports car enthusiast. If you looked at the Ford Thunderbird in that same year, the car was created by committee trying to be all things to all people – different engines, feature sets for all markets etc. and the sales of the 1992-1993 Thunderbird were horrible.
2. Creativity – Creativity is not anarchy. It is critical to foster creativity from the bottom up through clarity. Creating distinction through creativity is critical for outpacing your competition. In our enterprise software business, we do this through our DSS Direct Advantage®. This allows us to sell, support and work directly with our customer and not through a reseller network. This has been a true competitive advantage and allows us to outpace the competition.
3. Communication – Communication is critical to creating a tribe. If you consider Apple and Zappos, these two organizations are great at communication. Steve Jobs was one of the best presenters in history. Nobody could deliver a product launch like him. Apple’s communication is so strong that people stand in line all through the night to be the first person to but the new gismo. With customers like that, who needs sales people?
4. Customer Experience Focus – Customer Experience Focus needs to be engineered from all customer touch points within your organization. This sounds easy in theory but requires granular detail and focus. According to Peter Drucker, there is only one valid definition of a business and that is to get a customer.
5. Collapse of Distinction is a must read for any business person that wants to survive in today’s economy. This book is packed with excellent information and to do’s to help you implement the strategies.
I hope you have found this short summary useful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine until it becomes habit. Habits form in as little as 21 days. One thing you can take away from this book is CLARITY. This seems easy but in reality requires a great deal of thought and collaboration. Spend 30 minutes each day until you have refined elevator pitch defining exactly what you company does. One component of clarity is the understanding of what you do NOT do as well.
Book Summary: Collapse of Distinction by Scott McKain
No comments:
Post a Comment