The Donald Cooper Summer Newsletter
Volume 4, Issue 6 - Summer 2005
Donald’s
“Quote of the Month”
“To be successful, your business needs a compelling BIG IDEA that...
a) Defines your value,
b) 'Grabs' your target customers,
c) Clearly differentiates you from your competitors,
d) Focuses your staff...and,
e) Grows your bottom line.
If you don't have a BIG IDEA, your business is a commodity with an endangered future." |
Greetings ~firstname~,
Having been in Europe speaking and coaching for a number of
clients in June, and with summer vacation time, we did not get the June
or July Newsletters out. So, we've created a special Summer
Issue...
1. Does your business have a compelling BIG IDEA...or are you a commodity with an endangered future?
(time to read this article is about 60 seconds)
For a printable version of this article, click here.
In the "Quote of the Month" above we define a BIG IDEA as something that...
a) Defines your value,
b) 'Grabs' your target customers,
c) Clearly differentiates you from your competitors,
d) Focuses your staff...and,
e) Grows your bottom line.
“Eyeglasses in an hour” was the BIG IDEA that
gave Lenscrafters a huge competitive advantage and made them the
dominant player in the North American eyeglass business. But,
when all their competitors copied the idea, “eyeglasses in an hour”
became a commodity. That’s why businesses have to keep
reinventing themselves.
Dell Computers came up with a BIG IDEA
which was to eliminate both the distributor and the retailer by selling
directly to consumers. They own the customer relationship and the
entire gross margin. They created a new business model that has
made them profitable while other computer makers have struggled.
IKEA is a BIG IDEA…not for everyone, but you can’t be compelling to
everyone. If you’re trying to be compelling to everyone, you’ve
lost your way. Ikea does about 50 things extraordinarily well but
their BIG IDEA was to design and engineer modern, functional furniture
that you assemble yourself allowing them to reduce costs and pass on
the savings.
Volvo’s BIG IDEA is safety. Nobody buys a Volvo to be
‘sporty’. Lexus created a two-pronged BIG IDEA around the quality
of the vehicle and the quality of the total customer experience.
Mercedes, on the other hand, has lost their way and confused their
Brand by producing poor quality vehicles and going into small cars and lower price points.
The Dodge Caravan,
first introduced by Chrysler as “the Magic Wagon” back in 1983, was a
BIG IDEA that transformed family transportation and saved Chrysler from
bankruptcy…and it’s still the market leader in sales in spite of having
at least 10 direct competitors. In recognition of its
tremendous impact on American families, an early model of the Magic
Wagon is on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.
The goofy thing is that the guy who came up
with the family mini-van idea in the first place was actually working
for Ford at the time. When he tried to tell his boss about his
revolutionary idea, his boss told him to “Forget it, we’ve had no call for it.” (This guy didn’t know a BIG IDEA when it stared him in the face.)
Well, he didn’t forget it. He
believed in his idea, he resigned from Ford and went to Chrysler where
he showed his mini-van idea to Lee Iococa, Chrysler’s visionary
Chairman. Mr. Iococa took one look at it and said, “If we can build this, people will love it!” He knew a BIG IDEA when he saw one.
Insulin, penicillin and polio vaccine were BIG IDEAS.
The elevator, invented by Elishka Graves
Otis in 1853 and air conditioning, invented by Willis Carrier in 1902,
were two BIG IDEAS that redefined cities as places where buildings
could be taller than five floors and people could work and live
comfortably in the summer.
Southwest Airlines’ BIG IDEA is low cost
air travel made fun. They use one kind of aircraft and then
mastered the art of the 20-minute turnaround to keep expenses
down. Singapore Airlines’ BIG IDEA is totally awesome service on
the ground and in the air…and they deliver that magnificently!
So, what is the BIG IDEA in your
business? Do you have one…are you working on one? Will it
be sustainable, or will it be a temporary advantage like “eyeglasses in
an hour” was for Lenscrafters.
Will your BIG IDEA be a completely new
product like the elevator or air conditioning, a major improvement of
an existing product like the mini-van, or a new distribution or
business model like IKEA or Dell Computers?
Will you execute your BIG IDEA consistently
and wonderfully like Lexus and Singapore Airlines or will you lose your
way like Mercedes?
Remember, if you don’t have A BIG IDEA, you’re a commodity with an endangered future.
2. The power of a clear & compelling "Positioning Statement"!
(time to read this article is about 60 seconds)
For a printable version of this article, click here.
ervery biuz needs a big idea that...
Once you’ve created a BIG IDEA for your business, the next
step is to create a clear and compelling Positioning Statement that
will be an important part of your total Brand communication in this age
of the 10-second sound byte. To be effective, your Positioning
Statement must quickly and clearly achieve some or all of the following
objectives…
a) Explain clearly who you are or what you do…better than your competitors, b) Promise some specific functional, emotional or financial value that is compelling to
your target customers,
c) Clearly differentiate you from your competitors,
d) Make you memorable…and,
e) Make an emotional connection with your target customers.
Let’s look at some examples, good and bad:
1) When Dairy Queen wanted to reposition
themselves as more than a soft ice cream store in order to grow their
“share of stomach” and to be less seasonal, they added burgers, hot
dogs and fries to their menu. The challenge, then, was to
reposition themselves in their customers’ minds in a way that didn’t
take away from their traditional strength in the frozen dairy product category.
One possibility would have been to change their actual name but this
would have been a hugely expensive disaster. What they did do was to
create a very clever and catchy Positioning Statement to explain who
they now were. The statement is…”Dairy Queen…HOT EATS…COOL
TREATS!”
2) When Honda first entered the North
American motorcycle market they wanted to clearly differentiate
themselves from the Motorcycle Gang segment and they did it brilliantly
with this simple Positioning Statement, “You meet the nicest people on
a Honda!”
3) Years ago, Hallmark Cards did research
that showed that nobody looked at the back of a greeting card to see
who made it. They didn’t care! And if nobody cares who made
it, it’s impossible to create Brand preference and customer ownership.
So, Hallmark came up with an emotionally powerful Positioning Statement
that got both card purchasers and card recipients looking at the back
of the card before they even read the message inside. This
Positioning Statement, that made them the preferred brand and the
market leader, was…“When you care enough to send the very best!
4) Creemore Springs Brewery
in the sleepy little town of Creemore, Ontario clearly and whimsically
differentiates itself from the “big guys” and makes emotional
connections with their target customers who long for a simpler, less
stressful lifestyle, with the statement, “100 years behind the times”.
Now that Creemore Springs has been bought out by one of the ‘big guys’,
it will be interesting to see how their positioning might change.
5) There are so many more great examples. Smuckers Jams
have become memorable, promise quality and poke fun at themselves with
the memorable statement, “With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be
good.” And Oscar Meyer has kids all over North America singing, “I’d rather be an Oscar Meyer weiner.”
6) M & M Meats, the very successful Canadian
retailer of quality prepared meals, clearly positions itself as the
‘hero’ to ultra-busy consumers with the slogan, “Hundreds of meal
ideas…just one isle.” They know exactly who their customer
are and what kind of help they need…and they’ve put that in one powerful
sentence. This is brilliant.
7) And then there are some Positioning Statements
that simply don’t work! The stupidest one that I’ve ever seen was
from a paper towel company that came up with this one; “We care about
the same things you care about!”
How comforting that there’s a paper towel company out there that
actually cares about your mortgage, the cost of your kid’s braces and
whether or not your car will make it through the winter. This is
just goofy!
Hitachi’s Positioning Statement is “Inspire the
next.” This might be a good internal statement to encourage staff
to be more creative and innovative but I think as a consumer
Positioning Statement, it just doesn’t work. For consumers,
“Hitachi…creating the next!” might have worked better to position them
as an innovator of cutting edge technology.
For years American Express positioned itself as “the” credit card with
the statement, “Don’t leave home without it.” when, in fact, over 25%
of all merchants in the world did not accept American Express cards
because payment was too slow and AMEX took too big a
percentage.
Here’s another “goofy” Positioning Statement…The Bank of America…"Embracing ingenuity". What the heck does that mean?
So, what clear,
compelling and memorable Positioning Statement could your business create? Sit down, this week, with a few of the best
hearts and minds in your business and start getting creative about how you can
create a short, simple statement that will explain, promise, differentiate and
make powerful emotional connections with your target customers.
3. A very special $30 price on our Human Marketing Audio CD:
(time to read this article is about 30 seconds)
Our 3 ½ hour Human Marketing Audio Seminar on CD can turn
your car into a Marketing University. Just pop it into the CD
player and get the “straight goods” on how to increase market share and
profitability in the face of ever-stronger competition…and ever-faster
change.
Human Marketing is my own trademarked term
for a set of unique and profound insights into why people buy, why they
don’t buy…and what they really want when they do buy. You’ll be
amazed at how easy it is to create compelling customer value that will…
a) “Grab” your target customers. b) Clearly differentiate you from your competitors…and,
c) Grow your bottom line.
Then, you’ll learn the simple truth about how to communicate that value in everything you do.
We sell this 3 ½ hour Audio program all year long for $60 and it’s
worth every penny. But as a way of trying to make up for the fact that
I missed sending you two consecutive Newsletters (June and July) we’re
offering this great CD for HALF PRICE.
Click here now to order yours for only $30. (this offer expires Sept. 30, 2005)
Bonus thought…if you have a child or friend going off to Business
School this fall, or just starting up a business, get them one.
Companies pay me $8000 to deliver this same program live and here it is
for thirty bucks! Yours to play over and over again, as often as
you’d like.
4. What might be preventing you from delivering amazing customer-owning service?
(time to read this article is about 60 seconds)
For a printable version of this article, click here.
While
working with a client recently to create world-class, customer-owning
service, I came up with the following checklist of 20 things that might
be preventing them from being where they wanted to be.
Take
a minute to review this list and honestly and realistically and
put an “X” beside anything that might need fixing in your business…
|
|
1. No passionate commitment to customers
at “the top” of the organization. We
talk about ‘service’, but
it’s mostly just talk. |
| 2. Negative attitudes about customers that prevail throughout the organization. |
| 3. We don’t know enough about what our customers really need or want. |
|
4. We don’t provide the coaching that our customers need to wisely choose and
effectively use what we sell. |
|
5. No clear and effectively communicated Service Mission, Service Standards or
measurement of service performance in our business. |
|
6. Lack of well communicated standards of appearance, performance and
behavior. |
|
7. Absence of clear processes and systems that create a consistent and
efficient customer experience. |
| 8. Poor supervision. |
| 9. Not hiring people with the required knowledge, skills and attitudes. |
| 10. Lack of effective ongoing training and communication. |
| 11. Being understaffed. |
| 12. High staff turnover. |
| 13. Offering products and services that are not right for our target customers. |
| 14. Physical facilities, equipment or technology that limit our ability to serve. |
| 15. Our advertising makes promises that we cannot or do not deliver. |
|
16. Lack of a customer database that would enableus to serve regular customers
as individuals. |
| 17. Policies that frustrate and alienate our customers. |
|
18. Our staff are not empowerment to make decisions that will serve customers
quickly and effectively. |
|
19. Lack of recognition, rewards & appreciation for our service team. They’re
demoralized …and it’s our fault. |
| 20. We don’t ‘deal with’ staff who choose not to deliver our service promise. |
Now that you’ve identified what your service issues are, for each one
list the real and fundamental causes of the problem…and then determine
what needs to be done to fix it...and who will be responsible for making it happen.
5. Exciting news about how I can help you "jump start" your business for 25% of my normal fee!
(time to read this section is about 45 seconds)
For a printable version of this opportunity, click here.
Every year, hundreds of business owners who’ve heard
me speak about how sell more, manage smarter, make more money and have
a life, contact us to find out how much it would cost to have me work
with them and their team, for just one day, to ‘make it happen’.
They need to jump start their business and generally want help in
creating three things…
|
1. Compelling, customer-owning value that will “grab”
their target customers and
clearly differentiate them from their
competitors. | |
2. More effective management practices that will make them price competitive,
service competitive and profitable. | |
3. A clear Vision that will guide them to be a profitable market leader in 3 to 5
years. |
My full-day fee for this kind of work is
$10,000 and while lots of companies line up to pay it, it’s clearly way
too much money for many of the folks that need my help. So, after
much thought, we’ve come up with a fabulous ‘win-win’ solution that has
generated a lot of interest. Here’s how it works.
As a business owner in your community you must know three or four other
business owners who are also interested in jumpstarting their
business. Together, you bring me to your community to present my
full-day transformational and intensive Seminar targeted specifically
to business owners and their management teams (up to a total of six
people from each business), at a cost of only $2,500 per business,
plus travel (in North America). This is under $425 per person,
which is an incredible bargain for what they’re getting.
If you do it with a total of three businesses, rather than four, the
cost is $3000 per business…but each team gets more individual
attention. In each case the participants share the cost of the
venue, the group’s meals and two night’s accommodation for me.
This program is not for wimps! The full day will be
“full”…starting at 8 AM and ending at 6 PM…or later if you wish. The
objective is to rethink, refocus and re-energize your business to
create compelling customer value and long-term
profitability.
As a ‘thank you” for being the person who puts the group together, you
get an extra three hours of one-on-one time with me to confidentially
discuss any business challenges that you choose.
For
those of you in Western North America who are interested in this
program, I shall be in that area from Sept 8th to Sept 30th, then in
Atlantic Canada in early October, followed by Quebec in the latter part of
October...and New Zealand and Australia in early
December.
If you’d like to know more about this opportunity to create a clear
competitive advantage and long-term profitability in your business,
we’d love to chat with you about this wonderful new possibility! Just click here to contact Sharen Skene, our amazing Director of Marketing or call her at
1-416-252-3704.
6. Bits & Pieces:
(time to read this section is about 70 seconds)
Item #1:
Should you declare this “A year of keeping promises”? Earlier this year
I made a list of all the promises that I’ve made to my wife…and not
kept. Sadly, It was a very long list. I then declared this to
be “A year of keeping promises.”
|
- I’ve promised for years that we’d go to New Zealand…and we did in April. |
- I promised three years ago to plant more peonies (Wanda’s favorite
flower) in
our cottage garden…and in May, I finally did. |
- I had promised that we’d visit Prague and Vienna…and we did for Wanda’s
birthday in June. | |
- For five years I promised to paint the front door of our cottage…and I finally did
last month. |
- We’ve talked for years about going to chef Michael Stadtlander’s
famous farm
restaurant near Collingwood Ontario…and we went there just
last weekend.
Are there still lots of items on the list? There sure are…and I’m
looking forward to getting them off the list and into our life
together. Year 2006 will be “A year of keeping promises…part
two.” And did I mention that we’ve never had so much fun or been
more in love than we are now?
What promises have you not kept to the people you love…and to
yourself? Will you make a list…and will you declare this to be “A
year of keeping promises.”?
Item #2: Here’s a
clever way to avoid cutting your price: While poking around a
wonderful antique and collectibles shop in the famous Notting Hill
District of London I came across a very cleaver sign that the
proprietor had created to ward off those who wish to negotiate price.
The sign simply said… “All prices are firm. The owner is emotionally
ill-equipped to haggle.” I love it!
Do you have a great response ready when your customers ask you to cut
your price…or, like this guy in London, have you proactively created a
business environment in which customers wouldn’t even dare to ask?
Item #3: My annual plea
to retailers: If you’re a retailer of any kind and you don’t
already receive Kevin Graff’s Free Monthly Retail E-newsletter, for
Pete’s sake sign up now! Simply e-mail Kevin at solutions@graffretail.com and tell him that Cooper says that you should
get this excellent free retail management tool... starting NOW!
And, if you’re in North America and need help with any kind of retail performance issue, Kevin’s your guy.
Item #4: Asia
update: You’d have to be unconscious to miss all the talk these
days about China’s economic growth but, in reality, what’s happening in
India is as big and, in some cases bigger than the China story.
For example…
|
a) So far, India has had five
times more impact on American job losses than
China. (mostly in
software development and call center outsourcing). | |
b) India has a middle class of 300 million people…more than USA, Europe or
China. |
c) Car sales in India jumped by 24% last year. | |
d) Indian companies generated an average return on investment of 24% last
year…twice that of China. |
7. Is communication the big issue in business...or is it trust?
(time to read this section is about 45 seconds)
For a printable version of this article, click here.
Earlier this year spoke at a Marketing Conference in Miami for a technology business that
had recently been purchased by a huge global conglomerate.
They’re growing rapidly, introducing new products, opening new markets
and adding lots of new people. Everything about the business is
changing…and then changing again.
One frustrated manager told me that much of the time one hand doesn't know what the other
hand is doing. He said that in the good old days, when they were
smaller (15 months ago), everyone knew what the others were doing.
I asked this stressed out manager if he had a wife back in
Cleveland…and he did. I asked him if he knew for absolutely sure what
she was doing every minute during the three days that he was at this
Conference in Miami. He said he didn’t but he trusted that she was
doing good stuff that would move their lives forward. “But”, I
said, “realistically, she could be in a motel somewhere with an old college
boyfriend.”
Then I asked him if his wife knew for absolutely sure that he was
actually at this Conference at the Doral and not shacked up with some
cutie in Ft. Lauderdale. He said that his wife would trust that
he was at the Conference and doing good stuff that would move their
family forward.
So, here in a “business” called a marriage, consisting of just two
people, they can’t possibly know what the other person is doing all the
time…and it all revolves on trust.
I’m all for communication. We need to know enough to do our job and
deliver our commitments to customers, to each other and to our bottom
line. But if everyone in a business takes the time to know
everything that everyone else is doing, the business will grind to a
halt. They’d be spending so much time communicating that they’d
have no time to do their job.
What we really need is ‘trust’ that what others in the organization are
doing is good and will move the business forward. Trust may be more
important than communication. Does your business have a culture of trust or a culture of
paranoia? If you’re not sure, go rock climbing together…and it
will all become clear.
8. Our "Quiz of the Month":
(time to read this section is about 90 seconds)
"Thanks" to all of you who answered May's Quiz question which
was, "What
products did Toyota first produce when it was founded in 1918?"
And the bonus question was... "In what year did Toyota first start producing motor vehicles?"
Answers:
|
A) Toyota’s first
products were spinning and weaving machines for the textile
industry.
| |
B) Bonus question answer: Toyota started producing motor vehicles in the form of
light trucks in 1936.
|
Congratulations to this May's
winner, Nicole-Ann Poitras of De Dutch Pannekoek House Restaurants in Vancouver.
This month's Quiz: It’s generally known that Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest exporter
of oil but what country is the third largest exporter of oil?
Bonus question: This same country is the world’s largest exporter of what “farm” raised product?
The first person to email Sharen Skene, our wonderful
Director of Marketing at sharen@donaldcooper.com with the correct answer will
receive their choice of any of our excellent Video Seminars worth $60 to
$80. BONUS: If you can also answer the bonus question, you’ll get to pick two
of our wonderful Video Seminars.
9. That’s all for this month!
"Thanks" for all of your great feedback and suggestions! We especially love to hear of your successes using our insights.
Don't
forget to visit our Free Articles section on our website for lots more
valuable info on how to sell more, manage smarter and make more money
in your business.
Also, let us know what you'd like to hear more about...or less
about. And, do send us your stories and examples of great,
horrible or just plain bizarre business practices that you find in
your travels.
Finally, if
you know of others, anywhere in the world, who will find value in
this E-Newsletter, we'll appreciate your sending this along to them
and inviting them to sign up at www.donaldcooper.com.
Donald Cooper, MBA
Canadian Speaking Professional
Member of the Canadian Speaking Hall of Fame
For information about booking Donald for your company or Association,
contact Sharen Skene our wonderful Director of Marketing at Sharen@donaldcooper.com.
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lots of other valuable articles and implementation tools). |
