Wednesday Words
To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business.
People are very open-minded about new things—as long as they’re exactly like the old ones.
—Charles F. Kettering
Yesterday we talked about not trying to change customers’ minds and habits, but fit into an existing mindset or set of habits. The path to growth is clearer if you can showcase your product or service to dovetail nicely into those existing habits, yet (I hear some of you argue) aren’t some of the most revolutionary successes based on totally transforming habits?
Well, we do seem to have a genetic need to change things up now and then. We like “new” and “improved.” It’s sexy to think of ourselves as daring change-seekers when we’re the consumers, and in business we love the idea of being change agents for our customers.
My thinking on transformative innovation is that at its core, most change isn’t such a shift in habits after all—and as Kettering says, in the end we like our change to look just about same-as-usual. Maybe a little sexier.
Sure, the Kindle is a revolutionary way of taking a book around town, but it’s unlikely to make readers out of folks who haven’t picked up a book since high school. It only changes how existing readers haul their treasured tomes around with them.
Sure, fast food was a revolutionary way to feed the family, but the kids were gonna get fed—and quickly—after Mom and Dad both started coming home from work in the 50s and 60s. McDonald’s and others just tapped into an existing need and changed the delivery system.
The BlackBerry replaced the paper planner. The planner replaced the trusted personal secretary. But the need to organize a complex day has been with us since the days became complex. More people with complex days now, though, so spotting a habit that’s growing could be a great boost to any company.
Your business? How can you shorten your path to success, tapping into familiar, old habits—making them sexy and “new”? Is there a habit that’s being adopted by more customers, that could help you grow even faster?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
P.S. If you liked this article, I hope you’ll make the Maximum Customer Experience Blog a habit. Please subscribe now for fresh, sexy new ideas delivered regularly to your inbox or RSS feed. And thanks for being part of the MCE community!
If you enjoyed this post, please Subscribe (it's free!) 
Comment 
Share
Trackback 
25 February 2010, 8:24 am
I think Apple is the best example of this. They took the music player, and made it better. They took the cell phone, and made it better. They’re taking the netbook, and making it better.
So really, buying an Apple product really isn’t about getting people to do something “new”, but getting them to do something old in a new (and better) way.
And it’s sexy, but that’s stating the obvious.
Think different like Apple, and you can’t go wrong (except grammatically).
~Graham
25 February 2010, 8:43 am
Graham,
Agreed. No secret that I adore Apple, and that’s absolutely one of the reasons. They don’t try to make the oceans move, they spot a wave no one else understood properly and they ride it.
(And phew! Nice to know someone else stares at “Think Different” trying to decide whether to love ‘em or hate ‘em for flaunting Grammar 101. Those wily Apple folks!)
Regards,
Kelly
25 February 2010, 8:47 am
“They don’t try to make the oceans move, they spot a wave no one else understood properly and they ride it.”
Love it!
(BTW, wasn’t the whole “Think Different” campaign in the in-between times when Steve Jobs was wandering the desert? Not sure if that makes a difference, but if so we could at least partially attribute it to his awaywardness…)
~Graham
25 February 2010, 6:25 pm
Good insight here Kelly. By our nature, people and companies have a bad habit of jumping on the next trend before mastering the basics. Twitter and Facebook are perfect examples of this. Companies with strong presences on the latest social networking sites are often sub-par with the basic face-to-face and phone interactions that happen much more frequently.
I hate seeing companies get a pat on the back for trying to fix problems on Twitter when they should be spending their time, energy, and money on fixing the root cause of those problems.
Speaking of Apple, they’re not on Twitter or Facebook and they’re obviously doing quite well in the experience department. While everyone else is looking for that new perfect wave, Apple continues to ride the same one and pass us all by.
Tim Sanchez´s latest blog… Your Most Important Choice
25 February 2010, 9:12 pm
Haha – enjoyed the quotations!
So often, folks confuse “transaction” with “transformation”; simply doing a quick fix for an immediate problem rather than solving the cause of the problem.
“Cleaning the dust, instead of removing the source of dust” so to speak.
Best,
Glenn Friesen
Impact Learning | Customer Service Training
http://twitter.com/impactlearning
25 February 2010, 9:46 pm
Graham,
Yeah, I think you’re right, he was he was wearing a hairshirt around that time, unavailable to check ads for grammar issues. And thus one of their most memorable campaigns was born, much to the chagrin of sticklers everywhere. (We can’t be alone—legions of Apple-acolytes must also be sticklers, eh?)
LOL. They knew exactly what they were doing.
Tim,
Hello and welcome! Agreed, and agreed. A superior focus on the basics will always win out over chasing the next bright-shiny.
I took a peek around your new site. Very sleek. Congratulations on the launch and good luck with it!
Glenn,
Welcome to you as well!
You’re right, transformations involve a lot more than quick fixes. (Funny, that plays right into tomorrow’s post. Seems like folks keep scooping me in the comments this week…) “Cleaning the dust instead of removing the source of the dust” is a great metaphor!
Until later,
Kelly