Mike Cooper
When I am working with a new client I usually ask this question. “What makes you different from your competition? Why should I hire you over them?” While the intention is usually good, the answers I get are usually very general. “We do it cheaper," “We do it the right way”,“We focus on the customer." My reply is usually said in a light-hearted way, “Well I just called your competition and they told me the exact same thing!”
What is usually missing that makes any business stand out from the competition and become a success is innovation.
One of the first ways your business can be innovative is in customer service. I was a new customer of my local dentist, in for a full exam which included pictures of my mouth. While they were busy with that, the hygienists did something to make me laugh and quickly snapped my photo. Fast forward six months and no sooner had I walked in the door for my next cleaning and the receptionist greets me by name like she has known me for years.
I really felt important to them because there was an effort to make sure I was known by name the next time I walked in. Obviously their computer system has my photo connected to my name so they would recognize me, but that doesn’t take away the good feeling you get walking in and being greeted like Norm from Cheers.
One of the biggest areas I think all businesses need help with is being innovative with their efficiency. A business that is not efficient at what they do is pretty much dead in today’s economy. With tough economic times, you need to always think about how you can produce more in less time while not sacrificing quality.
Going back twenty years, I was working in a production plant and witnessed management ‘thinking outside the box’. They did something very innovative to improve production. After they were done the area I was working in increased production by over 100% without making the staff work harder.
They took a dozen workers all from other departments of the plant who had no idea on how the work was done in these areas. They then observed what was being done, asked a few questions and took lots of notes. They had meetings about what they saw and pitched ideas on what could be implemented to make things more efficient. Afterwards, a plan was implemented over the whole plant without spending a lot of money by just thinking of better ways get the job done.
This was an innovative way of thinking. As a business owner or manager, how often do you think to pull someone aside who knows nothing about what you do and ask for help on how you can be more efficient?
For my last example on innovation I want to pick a business that should hit home for most of you. Davison Orchard is a landmark in Vernon, it’s a tourist attraction, it’s a place for family fun, it’s a place of great memories and finally it’s an orchard.
In a time when farmers were (and many still are) in tight times, Davison Orchard knew in order to be competitive they had to be innovative. They made the decision to turn an ordinary farm into something extraordinary by making it into a local tourist attraction. One may have thought they were crazy with hundreds of other farms and orchards in the Okanagan, why would someone go to one for fun or as an attraction? Today there are not many people in the Okanagan or beyond that do not know of Davison’s Orchard.
To wrap things up, I want to help keep you focused on how you can make sure your business is innovative and different from the rest of your competition. I want you take this quote below and put it somewhere that you will see it every day before you go to do your work or before you serve your next customer. Think of it when you are working on what your next steps are to make sure your businesses is being innovative.
“To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success.” Henry J. Heinz.
Mike Cooper is the owner of Black Mountain Media.
Send Mike a note at: mike@blackmountainmedia.ca
See what Black Mountain does at: www.blackmountainmedia.ca
You can also call: 778-214-0519
