(Time to read this Blog is about 4 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “Successful businesses are built on trusting relationships…and the best way to create trust is to deliver compelling value and experiences and behave ethically.  It’s about as simple as that.”   
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   Cooper’s 4 rules of waiting:
     
   Important people don’t have to wait…ever!  When we make our customers wait, we’re telling them that they’re not important.  Like it or not, we live in the world of “I want it now”.  So, here are my ‘4 rules of waiting’:
     
   Rule #1: Don’t make people wait. Implement systems, processes, physical facilities and staffing levels that reduce or eliminate ‘waiting’.
    
   Rule #2:  If you must make them wait, give them something to do that they love more than they hate waiting. Years ago, in our 13,000 sq. ft. (130 sq meters) ‘Alive & Well’ ladies’ fashion ‘Warehouse Boutique’, we had 50 Change Rooms so women didn’t have to wait to try stuff on.  For husbands and boyfriends, we offered electric reclining massage chairs.  For kids we had a 28’ Pirate Ship Play Area that cost $58,000.  I walked by the ‘Pirate Ship’ one day and heard a 5-year-old ask his mother, “Mommy can we live here?”  Do your customers want to ‘live’ with you?
    
   Rule #3:  When customers are waiting, update them frequently and honestly so they know what’s going on, that they haven’t been forgotten and so they can make the best use of their time.
    
   Rule #4:  If you make them wait longer than they think is ‘reasonable’, give them a treat, gift or perk along with an apology.  If you’re sorry (and you should be), say you’re sorry in a meaningful and memorable way.
    
   How can you make these ‘4 Rules of Waiting’ work for you?

3. Learning from what’s going on around you. My Mother used to say, “You learn something every day…but only if you’re paying attention.”  Are you ‘paying attention’ to what’s going on around you…and are you learning from it?
    
   For example, last week Delta Airlines announced that they’ll be flying to 3 new European destinations next Summer (Porto, Portugal; Sardina, Italy and the island of Malta) because of customer’s changing travel preferences.
    
   If you’re paying attention, reading that should trigger you to ask, “How are our customers’ needs, preferences or concerns changing…and how must we change our offering to continue to be the clear ‘wise choice’ for them?”
    
4. I’m confused: We have rising unemployment in both Canada and the USA and yet all of my Biz Coaching clients tell me that their biggest business challenge is finding top-performers.  Perhaps the question is how many of the unemployed are actually ‘unemployable’.
    
   Be clear about the talent, values, experience and attitude you need in every position, including an outcomes-based Job Description, and then have a really good process for screening out those who are not a good fit.  Don’t hire the ‘unemployable’.
    
5. How I can be helpful: If your business or industry Association is having a Conference in the next year, I can help.   My bottom-line management and marketing insights, delivered as a Keynote, a longer Super Session, or both.  Simply put, I work with the owners and managers of small and medium sized businesses (Sales of $2 mill to $100 mill) to improve clarity, to sell more, manage smarter, grow their bottom line…and have a life.
    
   If you’d like more info, email me at donald@donaldcooper.com

Now, to this week’s important topic:

The incredible marketing power of defining your business by what you’re NOT:   

Most marketing is about telling our target customers who we are and what we do.  But, sometimes it’s even more powerful to remind your target customers who you’re NOT:
 
Viking Cruise Lines are consistently voted ‘Best River Cruise Line’ and #1 Ocean Cruise Line in their category.  They’re also brilliant marketers.  They know who their target customers are, what they want…and what they don’t want.  Based on that wisdom, they know who they are as a business…and who they are not.
 
Viking proudly states, “We do not try to be all things to all people.”   Then they get specific…

‘What Viking Is Not’.

1. No children under 18.
2. No Casinos.
3. No ‘nickel and diming’.
4. No charge for Wi-Fi.
5. No charge for beer and wine at lunch and dinner.
6. No umbrella drinks.
7. No photography sales.
8. No Art Auctions.
9. No inside staterooms.
10. No smoking.
11. No waiting lines.
12. No formal nights, butlers or white gloves.

We’ve sailed with Viking and they’re brilliant.  What they are NOT speaks to us loudly and clearly. 

So, what might this look like in your business?  Do you understand your target customers this well?  Do you know what they want more of, what they want less of…and what they want none of?   How could you ‘grab’ your target customers and clearly differentiate yourself by making it clear what you are not? 

That’s it for this week…

Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.