Do Something Remark-Able

In Seth Godin’s 2003 book called Purple Cow, he challenged businesses to stop playing safe by continuing to do what they have always done, or making small changes to existing product/service lines, and rather try more radical ideas to take a market by storm. The business world is a bit different now than in 2003, but the principal remains very relevant, I believe. The opportunity to gain significant market share by coming out with revolutionary ideas for new products or services are just as good now as they were 10 years ago.

Seth used the analogy of a Purple Cow. Nobody really notices one cow from the next. They are very familiar and pretty boring. A PURPLE cow however. Now that is something that would grab your attention and be something to talk about. Imagine if you could come up with a purple cow in your business. What level of free publicity would that provide and in these days of social media, how fast could that positive talk spread? How “able” is the idea to make people “remark” about it to their friends and become “remarkable”? What sort of additional sales and profit could that lead to?

Seth provided a guideline in his article to help you in the thinking process. I have included it below and I encourage you to talk to your staff about this list and challenge them to think about purple cow ways you can change the company. It doesn’t need to be a totally new and radical product that will cost millions to develop either. It can just be a radical new way to answer the phones or provide customer support, or guarantee customer satisfaction.

Here is Seth’s list to help you in the thinking process:

1. Differentiate your customers. Find the group that’s most profitable. Find the group that’s most likely to influence other customers. Figure out how to develop for, advertise to, or reward either group. Ignore the rest. Cater to the customers you would choose if you would choose your customers.
   
2. If you could pick one undeserved niche to target (and to dominant), what would it be? Why not launch a product to compete with your own that does nothing but appeal to that market?
   
   
3. Create two teams: the investors and the milkers. Put them is separate buildings. Hold a formal ceremony when you move a product from one group to the other. Celebrate them both, and rotate people around.
   
4. Do you have the email addresses of the 20% of your customer base that loves what you do? If not, start getting them. If you do, what could you make for them that would be super-special?
   
   
5. Remarkable isn’t always about changing the biggest machine in your factory. It can be the way you answer the phone, launch a new brand, or price a revision to your software. Getting in the habit of doing the “unsafe” thing every time you have the opportunity is the best way to see what’s working and what’s not.
   
6. Explore the limits. What if you’re the cheapest, the fastest, the slowest, the hottest, the coldest, the easiest, the most efficient, the loudest, the most hated, the copycat, the outsider, the hardest, the oldest, the newest, or just the most! If there’s a limit, you should (must) test it.
   
7. Think small. One vestige of the TV-industrial complex is a need to think mass. If it doesn’t appeal to everyone, the thinking goes, it’s not worth it. No longer. Think of the smallest conceivable market and describe a product that overwhelms it with its remarkability. Go from there.
   
8. Find things that are “just not done” in your industry, and then go ahead and do them. For example, JetBlue Airways almost instituted a dress code– for its passengers! The company is still playing with the gift certificates. A book publisher could put a book on sale for a certain period of time. Stew Leonard’s took the strawberries out of the little green plastic cages and let the customers pick their own. Sales doubled.
   
9. Ask, “Why not?” Almost everything you don't do has no good reason for it. Almost everything you don't do is the result of fear or inertia or a historical lack of someone asking, “Why not?”
   
10. What would happen if you simply told the truth inside your company and to your customers?

I challenge you to come up with a remarkable, purple cow in your business and then milk it for all it’s worth!

For a full copy of Seth’s article, click here.

Andy Burrows

Business Advisor, Coach and Mentor.

Find me at www.iconbusinesssolutions.co.nz

What's This Thing Called "Culture"?

A culture statement is used as a guide for a business entity to foster a congruent relationship with the people it works with. The culture within an organisation will attract a certain style of person to it (good or bad, productive or non-productive) and you can control this attraction by having a stated or desired culture and management working to maintain that culture within the organisation.

Culture / Values are beliefs which owners, management and employees hold in common and endeavour to put into practice. The culture guides management and employees in performing their work. Specifically, you should ask, "What are the basic beliefs that we share as a business?"

Just imagine a business employing a manager to operate the business. How dramatically would the business change under the following two different management styles!

General Manager #1

Manager #1 has an autocratic style and has always believed that employees steal from them, don’t work toward the best interest of the business and are only there for their self-interest. This manager does not believe that any of the staff are responsible enough to take on any task without full supervision. Manager #1 believes that their suppliers are trying to overcharge and under deliver and are always late with delivery. They also believe that their customers are out to take advantage of them and are always accusing them of wrongful dealings.

General Manager #2

Manager #2 involves the supervision staff members in their decision making process and treats all staff with respect. Manager #2 still makes the decision and does so with efficiency and the full loyalty of their staff members. Manager #2 understands that 95% of most problems arising in the workplace are system related and finds ways to combat and correct any problems. Manager #2 believes that the staff are doing the best that they can and given the choice only want to see the business improve.

In the example above the manager would create a culture for the business. If a culture is not designed for the business and that culture adhered to then the culture will be randomly selected by the management staff in place … mainly by their undying personality.

Icon Business Solutions have designed a culture for the business to foster growth and cooperation and believe that we will all benefit from adhering to the cultural attributes in place… therefore a culture statement has been designed to support us in our endeavours.

What’s yours?

A One-Page Strategic Plan? Yes - It Is Possible

A guest spot this week on PLANNING by Verne Harnish from www.Gazelles.com

Verne is the author of “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits” and runs a consulting firm in North America that provides executive education, coaching and technology services to help mid-market companies around the world build and execute a strategic plan.

VISION – A DREAM WITH A PLAN – Most people don’t have visions, they have

dreams. The one-page planning document guides you to answer 7 simple questions

around your dream – Who, What, When, Where, How, Why and the always difficult

“but Should we or Shouldn’t we?”

You’ll see these anchor questions at the top of each column of the one-page planning document and bolded below to provide you a verbal and visual clue to match the “how to” sections with the appropriate columns on the form.

TWO OVERARCHING IDEAS – Alignment and Simplicity. The one-page planning

document is designed to encourage simplicity (there’s not a lot of space to write, so you must be concise and focused) and alignment (think of the document as a crossword puzzle, where figuratively“4 down” needs to align with “7 across.”).

FOUR KEY DECISIONS to help you move forward with purpose and direction – Essentially the “bottom lines” of the form:

1) Getting the Right People (aligned with the Core Values and Purpose)

2) Long Term Goal – BHAG

3) Strategy – Brand Promises and X Factor

4) Short Term Focus – Critical Number(s) for the year and each quarter

If you get these decisions right, everything else falls into place much easier. And you’ll likely dominate your industry, have three to five times industry average profitability, have a lot of cash, and will grow revenues at twice the industry average. In addition, customers and employees will be attracted to your business.

DOWNLOAD PLANNING DOCUMENT here and contact Andy to help you put together your one-page plan for YOUR business.

Andy Burrows

Icon Business Solutions - Coaching in Business