To come up with great ideas, Hudson Valley organizations must change the way they think about the status quo. Many solutions don”™t depend on high-tech breakthroughs and most “original” ideas aren”™t completely original. Think about the innovations of rolling luggage and prewashed lettuce.
Imagine solutions where price is no object. In the 1960s, Howard Hughes had plenty of wealth and wanted to watch old movies. The VCR had not yet been invented. His solution was to buy a local television station and treat it as his personal VCR by telling the manager what movie to broadcast.
To be truly progressive, organizations should not begin with a view that the solution has to be practical. If practicality ruled, steel ships would not be crossing the ocean. Steel sinks in water. The real question is, are there any solutions at all?
It”™s no big secret that guests at hotels, including myself, frequently, lock themselves out of their rooms inconveniencing themselves, the front desk and other guests waiting to check in or out.
- European hotels place a room key card receptacle right next to the door.
- Only by placing the key in the holder will the lights turn on.
- Removed key from holder, the lights go off.
- Guests don”™t lose their keys.
Like the bottleneck at the hotel front desk, consider how people”™s behavior affects other people in your business. Blockbuster”™s old customer relations strategy was “managed dissatisfaction.” They were frequently out of recent releases because the movie studios charged $65 each for tape.
The high price made Blockbuster very cautious about which videos to buy and how many copies to hold in stock. It was better to have new releases frequently out of supply than to buy extra copies that might stay on the shelf un-rented.
The movie studios didn”™t feel the hurt when customers couldn”™t find their desired movie, nor did they feel Blockbuster”™s pain when the movie that cost the store $65 just sat on the shelf. Do similar situations exist in your organization?
Blockbuster”™s CEO, John Antioco, convinced the studios to agree on a revenue-sharing deal. Blockbuster got to buy tapes at a much-discounted price, and, in exchange, they gave 40 percent of the rental revenue back to the studio. Everyone, the customer, studio and Blockbuster won.
What”™s working well in other places? For example, Disney understood that a lack of baby-sitting could stop parents from enjoying some of the more adult and late evening activities available at their parks. Its solution was to establish Kids”™ Clubs at Disney World.
IKEA followed Disney”™s lead and provides baby-sitting for those parents who come to shop. Recently IKEA added a free meal in their cafeteria for shoppers who bought $150 or more of merchandise that day.
Anthony W. Ulwick, author of “What Customers Want,” reminds us, “Customers buy products and services to help them get jobs done. When companies focus on helping the customer get a job done faster, more conveniently, or more cheaply than before, they are more likely to create products and services that customers want.”
Is there a solution to better satisfy your customers”™ wants at any price? When you see an idea somewhere else ask, “Would this help our customer get a job done faster, more conveniently or cheaper?”
Questions for discussion:
Ӣ What jobs are our customers trying to get done and how can we help them by providing an even better solution?
Ӣ Will we ask our people to look for new ideas by observing what others are doing as they work, travel and shop themselves?
Joe Murtagh is The DreamSpeaker, an international keynote speaker, meeting facilitator and business trainer. For questions or comments, Joe@TheDreamSpeaker.com, www.TheDreamSpeaker.com or call (800) 239-0058.
