Indifference Sucks
Welcome to comfortable mediocrity. Three cheers for the middle ground. Let’s hear it for going through the motions. And congratulations on keeping your eye off the ball. When you cease being relentless and vigilant concerning your customer, you have begun a one-way trip to Brand Palookaville. Or, stated another way, Indifference Kills.
Having worked at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide for a long time, I was present at the conception of something cool, different and innovative: Westin’s Heavenly Bed and Heavenly Bath and heavenly differentiation. These product breakthroughs made history and a lot of money, and arriving at them involved a deep, sophisticated, technical process. Ready? We asked people what bothered them. They told us. We fixed it.
The point is, this stuff is OBVIOUS. As an old Arab proverb states: “I don’t know who discovered water, but I’m sure it wasn’t a fish.” It means we don’t see what’s staring us in the face, for the simple reason we’re not looking. We are…yes, indifferent.
Breakthroughs come from a firm focus on the obvious. How about a white bed that screams CLEAN, or a shower curtain that curves so squeamish guests never have to touch it? How about putting a big, squishy handle on a kitchen utensil? What about all-white “EarPods” (even though all your engineers say they have to be black)?…it’s not hard to figure out once you see it. It’s the seeing that’s the hard part.
Obvious opportunities are staring at you every day. “Millions saw the apple fall but Newton asked why.” The opportunities may appear boring in their obviousness, but in that boredom lies greatness and success just waiting to pounce. Closed eyes lead to indifference, and indifference leads to lousy products. VCRs impervious to human understanding. Blister packs you can’t open. Stickers on CDs and DVDs cleverly designed not to come off. And, of course, those funky floral bedspreads in hotel rooms.
Why are the classic funky floral bedspreads a colorful symbol of indifference? Because they were never re-thought, and they just lay there, decade after decade, hiding a multitude of sins but allowing no emotional connection to the customer -- except shudders. The Westin Heavenly Bed ended those shudders. Just the fact that no one ever considered redesigning the bed is remarkable. As remarkable as Kodak not embracing digital or Sony ceding mobile music to Apple.
The flaws in whatever you do, make, practice or sell may be small, subtle, trivial and vague to you, but they’re not to your customers. So stop reading now, and turn your eyes to the obvious.
