Let's Give Bruno a Break
The performer got targeted in a
social media debate about his work. The debate may be phony, or stupid, but
there's a real lesson to learn about how quickly your customers can evolve.
CEO, 1871@tullman
I feel really bad for
Bruno Mars because he’s stuck in the middle of one of these stupid, click-bait
driven, social media debates about whether he’s grateful enough and vocal
enough about the influences that “black” music has had on his own work. Apparently,
no matter how much or how often you say “thank you” these days and prostrate
yourself to the memories of those gone before, it’s never sufficient for the
trolls and the haters. So, we’re subjected to a 140-character debate about
cultural appropriation by a bunch of know-nothings and two-thumb typers who can
barely spell, much less understand what they’re talking about. I’m just glad
that Mick and JT have never had to go through this kind of knee-jerk noise. And
Elvis would be rolling in his grave if there was room enough in the casket for
him to move that bloated body around.
However, these people
aren’t entirely worthless because they can always serve as a bad example - a
stirring demonstration of exactly what not to do. You can learn a lot from
Luddites. The important lesson for entrepreneurs is buried deep in the trivial
and utterly immaterial observations of these critics. It’s about how quickly
and easily concepts, ideas, language, thoughts - and especially expectations -
can jump around from person to person, place to place, and industry to industry
in today’s hyper-connected and high-speed digital world.
My takeaway is all about customers and competition. We see this
same kind of behavior in every kind of competition. Many years ago, every high
jumper laughed at a guy named Dick Fosbury and his crazy Fosbury Flop technique-;
until he won gold at the 1968 Olympics with a record-setting leap. Then
everyone jumped in and copied his technique.
I always say that the expectations
of customers are "perpetually progressive," which
simply means that they (we) can't help themselves from continually raising the
bar. Which means that you've got to keep getting better and better in your
business (product, service, support, speed, etc.) all the time because what was
yesterday's miracle is tomorrow's "so what?"
Like it or not, we’re
all living in a “what have you done for me lately?” world. And to make things
even worse, your competition never sleeps; they’re ready, willing, and able to
step right up and grab any unhappy customers if you lose a step or two or start
taking anything or anybody for granted. No one owns the customer today;
switching costs are minimal; people’s choices are virtually unlimited; and
locked-in and loyal consumers are a sure thing only as long as you keep
delivering the goods.
But the new
news is that the state of the competition has changed and you need to make sure
that you aren’t spending too much of your time looking through the rear-view
mirror or trying to measure your performance and success against the wrong bars
(traditional and too low) and the wrong ball players (too few and too narrow a
view).
The most important
competition today for the time, attention and dollars of your customers isn’t
in your own backyard. It’s not in your silo or limited to the set of standard
competitors that you have always benchmarked your business against because
that’s simply too low a bar and too modest a target. The competition today for
the hearts and minds of your customers - listen closely - is the last great
experience (sales or service) that they’ve had, whenever and wherever that took
place. Whether or not it has anything directly to do with you or your business
doesn’t matter. That’s simply how the consumer keeps score today.
You need a new mindset and it starts with a simple
acknowledgement. In today’s one-stop world, you’re competing against the likes
of Amazon even if they aren’t yet selling the same stuff or services that you
are - if that’s even possible anymore given that they have virtually everything
at the Everything Store. You’re competing against the most trusted brand in
America and you’re competing with the ways (every way) that Amazon does
business. Speed, access and convenience trump everything else. Once we
experience this hyper-speed anywhere in our lives, we immediately bump up the
bar, raise our expectations, and apply the same new standards to everything
else in our lives. This is a case of appropriation uber alles and every one of us is guilty of it
because that’s basic human nature. Who doesn’t want more and better anything
and everything?
Amazon isn’t alone in setting the curve in the “right now”
economy. You can get an on-demand flu shot at Walgreens in 15 minutes these
days at your convenience. Why would you ever again beg some receptionist for an
appointment to go see your internist in three weeks, then take 3 hours out of
your day and spend several hundred bucks to accomplish essentially the same
thing. And you’ll probably catch the flu before you get around to the date of
your appointment anyway.
The bottom line: if
you treat your customers as if it’s business as usual, they won’t be back or be
your customers much longer. So, my advice is to “Be like Bruno” (with apologies
to Michael Jordan). Change up your game constantly, get out of your comfort
zone, look beyond your own four walls and your own marketplace, see who’s hit
it out of the park (last week or last century), rip them off politely, and then
do it better than they ever did.
Good artists copy;
great artists steal.