I was in a meeting just the other day where the business owner was talking about their “leading position” in their respective industry. Impressive, right? Not so fast…
His industry is what most would consider a “Laggard” stage industry…basically slow to adopt new changes in about everything, not just technology. When everyone else has gotten on board and proved this new way of doing things works, the laggards jump into the game. There are lots of laggard industries. It doesn’t mean they are bad…just means they are slow to adopt new ways of thinking and change.
He went on to explain how they are viewed as probably the best in their industry and so was basically saying, “Why would we need to change if we are the best in our industry?” Good question. Here’s something to think about.
Is being the BEST of the WORST the best place to be today when we have competitors showing up from virtually any industry? Just because your known competitors aren’t doing things as well or as advanced as you doesn’t mean you are safe.
Take Southwest Airlines as an example. When Herb looked at the airline industry (the worst) he decided there was room to come in and be better than anyone else in how it was run…he saw an opening in one of the worst run industries…especially when it comes to the customer experience. Raise your hand if you feel like you love the experience of United Airlines, for example. I didn’t see any hands go up…
Herb came in and created a new model in what was thought of as an impermeable industry. And he rose to the top quickly. Why? Because he had a model that was “better than the best” at the time and the customers were tired of being treated poorly and so they defected and went fly SouthWest. Their story is not unique…there are stories like this in many industries…maybe yours. Alaska Airlines is another great example…small little airline flying to Alaska and now Delta is trying to compete with them in Seattle. Delta…weren’t they a leading giant airline…now they are trying to beat out the little airline that only flew to Alaska? What happened…they weren’t the best and Alaska was and is and now they are chasing them.
Instead of thinking about striving to be the BEST in a laggard industry, start looking outside your industry about how others are being successful…copy that. Bring innovative thinking from other industries into your own industry and truly eclipse your competition. Ritz Carlton did it and many others have as well…you can too. Many focused in the area of customer experiences…because this is usually one of the worst parts of laggard industries. They got there because of operations, not because of the awesome experience they deliver to their customers. Look at these industries. What can you copy? What can you learn and modify to work in your industry? How can you move closer to becoming the BEST of the BEST?
