intangible value
202 posts
Sweeping The Floor
One of my first jobs was in the hospitality industry. We worked long hours, weekends and holidays for average pay. Staff turnover was high. It was hard for managers to motivate people. One of our best managers didn’t bark orders about smiling at customers or showing up on time. She led by example. T
Easy Does It
Our expectations about the quality of products have increased exponentially with our ability to perfect the things we produce. When quality improves our tolerance for mistakes plummets. Interestingly, the same isn’t true for human interactions. Even though digital technology has enabled degrees of e
Tell Me About Your Company
If you were asked to describe a friend in three words you’d have no problem. Maybe you’d say he was fun or kind, perhaps you see him as loyal or generous. But if I asked you to tell me about your company’s attributes or brand’s characteristics you’d probably struggle. We invest a lot of time…
The Immeasurable Benefits Of The Immeasurable
Joanne has no idea what the return on investment of sweeping her bakery floor is. And yet she does it first thing each morning before the first customer arrives. Harry has no way of knowing if the three hours he spends cleaning his taxi inside and out at the weekend makes a difference to passengers.
Disruption is…
The path to building a successful, sustainable business is littered with innovative ideas, requiring brave leadership to prioritise the needs of tomorrow’s customer above today’s bottom line. Disruption is having the courage to take the customer where they want to go. Image by Thomas Hawk
Meaning At Work
There is an element of the mundane in every job. Consider the cabin crew who work on long-haul flights. The majority of their work is the repetitive, and strenuous task of wheeling trolleys full of food and drink down narrow aircraft aisles while repeating the same script, ‘chicken or beef’, to the
Heartwork
These words spoken by Director of The London School of Economics, Minouche Shafik, in an interview last year ring true: ‘In the past jobs were about muscles, now they’re about brains, but in future they’ll be about the heart.’ The truth is our best work always has been about the heart. And the good
Is Your Marketing Working?
Last week I visited the local camping store to buy a gift card. As I was paying at the point of sale, a one question survey popped up on the keypad. The store manager asked if I’d seen their TV ad. When I said I hadn’t, she hit ‘no’ on the survey. I couldn’t resist…
The Power Of What Goes Unnoticed
The two sign installers stand back to assess their work before finishing the job. But something isn’t right. A couple of the large adhesive letters they have applied to the storefront window are crooked, and one of the men calls this out. His colleague agrees. The sign is definitely looking a little
Forget Marketing
Forget marketing. Instead, sit down and reflect on what you want your customer to know about why you’re building what you’re building. Tell them everything. Write it down. Start with how you got to this moment and how your journey to it has equipped you to help them. Tell your customers how you’re g
Two Ways To Think About Selling
Are you selling or are you showing up in the best light for the people who need you? Sales can be a service. And vice versa. Image by Garry Knight
The Feeling Customer
One of the mistakes we make when we’re building a business and communicating our value is to only create for the thinking customer and his rational mind. Messages that resonate deeply connect with people’s feelings. Beloved brands and successful businesses appeal to their customers’ hearts, not just
Missed
If Jason suddenly stopped coaching at our local gym, we would miss how he tries to get the best from everyone, even when we don’t feel like getting the best from ourselves. Plenty of people would miss the energy James and his team create at KereKere cafe, their warm welcome and the intention behind
Leaving A Trail
The contractors who mow the lawn in the public spaces where my parents live whizz around on ride on lawnmowers. They don’t get off to move obstacles, trim edges or collect the grass. The job is done in no time. But for the next few days, cut grass blows around the suburb and is trailed…
Just Because You Can
The role of the hotel concierge can be a challenging one. The concierge has to think on his feet. He must immediately earn each new guest’s trust, give people what they don’t always know they want and solve problems on the fly. Some people are better at this than others. The good concierge knows the
Visible Vs. Memorable
When my friend Mark opened his bakery, he was faced with a marketing dilemma. Should he blow his marketing budget on a single print advert that would cost him several thousand dollars or should he invest that money in something else? The promise of brand validation and the creation of mass awareness
Transactions Vs. Experiences
The hotel was nothing to write home about. You couldn’t really fault it either. The facilities, which matched the hotel’s star rating were as described. The room was clean. The bed was comfortable. The staff were efficient and polite. But—you knew there was a ‘but’ coming. The place lacked a spirit
People Power
When a traveller books a $700 a night hotel room she assumes that she’ll have a five-star experience. She’s expecting more than a better bed, thicker carpets and fancier facilities. When a five-star hotel gets a one-star review, it’s an indication that something went badly wrong. Of course, guests a
Forget Which Way The Wind Is Blowing
When the disco diner opened on a warm Summer night in a flurry of pink neon, accompanied by loud music and cheap booze, the owner felt reassured he’d found his tribe. But as the evenings grew shorter and the nights colder, his confidence began to waver. The evolving messaging on a pair of sandwich b
The Rise Of The Patient Marketer
The fact that we’re exposed to thousands of marketing messages every day is old news. Our lives are now designed to mitigate against being interrupted by things we don’t care about and never respond to. And yet, we often fail to acknowledge that the people we want to reach feel the same way. If we’r
