difference
380 posts
Freedom Is Something You Make
When I was growing up (and maybe when you were too), there were two ways you could earn a living. You could have a job, or have a business. Two clear choices, work for a boss, or be the boss. Career guidance advice went something like this… “Get good grades, to get a qualification, to…
Intention Is A Competitive Advantage
Having a competitive advantage is not just about being better in ways that can be measured, it’s about understanding your difference and about knowing how that difference will impact the lives of your customers. Great business leaders know what they want to do well and also importantly what they won
The Marketing Shortcut
The fare on sale at the coffee window of our local cafe changes each morning. On Monday homemade protein power balls and muesli bars are strategically laid out to fend off the regret of the weekend’s indulgences. On Tuesday it’s fruit filled muffins and by Friday we’re splashing out with a chocolate
The Business Case For Creating Great Customer Experiences
Saren Indah is a tiny fifteen room hotel in Ubud. It’s hard to stand out from the crowd in a market where amazing seven star resorts line up alongside cheaper than cheap backpacker accommodation. How do you differentiate when you are not the biggest, flashest or cheapest? Saren Indah should be lost
Become Part Of The Story
I arranged to meet one of my Twitter friends for the first time in the little bar at the front of my hotel. He is a designer from London and as luck would have it we were visiting New York at the same time, (something we discovered through our simultaneous posts of Times Square on…
Shifting The Focus From Results To Relationships
There’s a problem with how performance is measured by both ourselves and in our organisations. Typically you have a budget and targets to achieve. The purpose of the budget is to make sales go up, or waiting times go down. Our systems are designed to judge and reward us on results. If the campaign y
There’s More Than One Way To Tell Your Story
In 2004 Chanel paid $33 million for the production of a two minute film which became the most expensive advert ever made. In a post GFC economy that figure seems shocking, but Chanel is one of the most valuable global brands. They have the marketing budget and they’re not afraid to use it. Dropbox w
Pick One Thing
When you think of Apple you immediately think about great design. You are reminded that Apple chooses to lead with design even in the moments between the moments that matter to you as a customer. It’s hard not to be in awe of a company that cares so much about your experience that they make…
Who Is Your Customer?
Joan works as a personal trainer at the local gym. She looks old enough to be someone’s grandma, but I don’t think she is. Unlike most women her age who live around here Joan doesn’t wear a wedding ring. She visits the same cafe for breakfast every day, but not at the same time because…
How To Be Great
Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine don’t make great headphones because they know the most about headphones. They make great headphones because they understand how music should sound and more importantly, they know that people want to feel, not just hear when they listen to it. “The right song at the right time
No Business Is In A Market Of One
When dance partners compete they know the other couples are there on the dance floor with them, but they never focus on what the competition is doing. Instead they relentlessly hone each move and perform it for the audience as if it were their only chance to dance the dance. They don’t allow the fac
The First And Last Question Your Customers Subconsciously Ask
And the one you must spend a great deal of your time answering…. Why should I care? Why should I care about your new app? Why should I care that your innovation pioneers the latest technology? Why should I care about your fundraising campaign and not that one? Why should I care about the time…
The Value Of Asking What If
Have you ever been stuck waiting outside your hotel room while it was given the daily once over? It turns out that for some guests housekeeping can feel like more of an intrusion than a service. On average it costs a hotel $22 a day to deliver housekeeping services for each room. That figure probabl
The Economics Of Attention
Attention is either earned or paid for. Whether you pay for advertising or not you still buy your audience’s attention every day. You may not pay in dollars and cents, but either way there is a cost attached to getting people to notice or engage. The cost of paid attention (in the form of TV…
How To Hit Your Target
When an archer aims she doesn’t keep her eye on the target. She knows the target is there, but she sees it vaguely, or sometimes not at all. The point of aim is always closer than the target. Hitting the target is determined by how she aims, not by the fact that she’s shooting for…
Why Not Go First?
An article about successful disruptive businesses like Warby Parker or Square spreads like wildfire through social media channels and whole libraries could be filled with stories about what makes Apple unique. It’s natural to want to learn from the successes of others and to wonder how we can borrow
Whoever Gets Closest To Their Customer Wins
Let’s consider how the business world has been turned on its head in less than a decade. We only need to think about fourteen brands in order to understand the shift. APPLE vs. SONY. AMAZON vs. BORDERS. NETFLIX vs. BLOCKBUSTER. AIRBNB vs. HILTON. UBER vs. CABS. NEST vs. HONEYWELL. TWITTER vs. NEWS C
What’s More Important Than Building Awareness?
Ask any business owner what their most pressing problem is and ‘building awareness’ is sure to be on the list. Maybe it’s on your list too? In a world where it’s harder to get attention, gaining mind share is a priority for everyone. We think that if we can just get a few more people…
Tapping Into Empathy
Wherever you are right now stop what you’re doing and listen to the people and the conversations going on all around you. I’ve been working in public places a lot recently and here’s what I’ve found. Nobody is listening to anybody—not really. They’re pretending to listen while they wait for their tu
How To Write Your Mission Statement And 20 Great Mission Statements To Inspire You
Have you ever noticed how we tie ourselves up in knots and overcomplicate things when we put our business hats on? Your mission statement doesn’t need to be long and complex, it’s simply a promise—your statement of intention. A mission statement needs to clarify the answers to the following two ques
