If execution were the magic answer, we wouldn’t worry about “differentiation.” We wouldn’t strive to be different…we would just strive to be more efficient. Our primary goal would be to employ and hire the best robots that were just a bit more efficient than the other company’s robots. We could eek out just a bit more margin than the next company with better robots.
As for customers, they wouldn’t care about how they interacted with your company…they would just be looking for the best product at the lowest price that could be delivered sooner than the competition. Your robots could serve this function. They certainly wouldn’t want to call your robots and talk to them because they would just give them the same information you could find online or on your website. No need to talk to the robots…just look online!
But this really only works when robots sell/market/provide products/services to other robots. Robots want efficient, cost effective products and services. They don’t understand an “experience” and don’t need to because they are simply looking for the facts, the data, the price, and the terms. If they can get the best of these from you…they buy.
Unfortunately, the last time I checked we are a planet of people…not robots (at least not yet). They want MORE than the robots can provide. They want an EXPERIENCE…they want to see PASSION and COMMITMENT from the people inside the company. People buy on “emotion and feelings” more than technical attributes. This is about the passion (or lack thereof) in your Customers and Employees. Passion is contagious. It’s what we all want to see with people we buy from, work with, interact with, and invest time and resources (money) with. We want PASSION!
PEOPLE FLOCK TO BUY FROM PASSIONATE PEOPLE THAT GIVE THEM AN EXPERIENCE THEY CAN REMEMBER…AND TELL OTHERS ABOUT IT! They ask their friends…they tell their friends about the people they meet that are passionate about serving them. They want every chance they can get it. And when it isn’t offered anywhere, then they settle for the robots and buy on price and terms. This is the world we live in today.
Think about your daily life…
- The internet is flooded with personal stories of people getting an awesome experience
- The most viewed stories are the ones that elicit your feelings and emotions…not more facts
- Today more than ever, we buy on emotion and justify it with the facts
- Why do you shop more (spend more) at the places that make you feel special and important
- Why do you “tear up” on certain ads that play on your emotions when you know they are an ad
Now, sit back and ask yourself what your company looks like today. Do you elicit these types of emotional reactions from your customers…regardless of what you sell or your audience? Do your customers talk about their “experiences” and how they “feel” when they buy from you? Do they gush to others about how special you make them feel…how important they feel after every interaction they have with your company and your employees?
OR…do you have an army of “robots” called employees today? Are they efficient at delivering your product/services at the best price, terms, and delivery schedule? Do they focus on simply getting product out the door as efficiently as possible? Do they deliver the services required efficiently and timely…but without passion? Tough questions…but easy to answer…just ask your customers.
OR…do you have a team of people that wake up every day with the passion to give your customers such an incredible experience they won’t forget it and can’t wait to tell others. Is what you deliver memorable or forgettable? If you asked one question to your customers, “was our experience memorable or efficient?”…what would they say? It would be a home run if they answered BOTH!
Robots won’t ever take over in the foreseeable future…because we have these pesky things called “human customers” who DEMAND PASSION AND AN EXPERIENCE. While they might want it efficiently and at a “reasonable” price, your passion and the experience you provide them trumps efficiency. And it always will until the Robots sell to other Robots. I’ll take my chances this isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Passion and Experience creates additional “margin” or return on your goods and services. There has been countless research that says the same thing…people would be willing to pay more for an incredible experience…not a great one, an incredible one.
This is what separates “commodity” companies from “customer centered experiential companies” today. Commodity companies have robots that believe they are selling to robots…but your customers want passionate humans to sell to them. There are lots of great examples of companies who get this and are doing it daily…and are creating memorable experiences…who are differentiated in their industry…who are making additional margins (Zappos, SW Airlines, Disney, JetBlue, etc.)…but unfortunately the majority of companies still believe we, their customers, are robots.
As a leader, ask yourself and your fellow leaders…are you all about the passion and experience your customers want or organized with robots trying to sell to passionate humans? Even if you have some blend of robots and human, your customer wants you to be “all in” when it comes to passion and the experience.
So ask yourself where you are today as an organization…it will tell you a lot about your current strategy and give you an incredible window into what your customers are most likely saying about you in the market…which is what really matters today. Today, they don’t just tell their 20 friends…they tell their thousands of friends, followers, connections, and others they are interacting with on social media. The world got HUGE…and so did your customers ability to spread massive word-of-mouth. What are they going to say…
