I make honey like no-one else. I'm unique! No, I am! Look at meeee!Some time back, I was seated beside the CEO of a major healthcare company at the dinner for an event at which I was speaking. He was a very interesting, charismatic and widely knowledgeable guy. And yes, before you ask, he was over six feet tall, with a full head of hair, and some nice distinguished silver streaks.
In the course of the conversation with myself and another person, he used the phrase, "System XXXX" a number of times (XXXX being my anonymous version of his company's name). About the fourth time he used this soundbite, I quietly asked him, "Excuse my ignorance, but what is System XXXX?"
He seemed nonplussed for a moment, then remembered that I wasn't an employee of the company and went on to explain the thinking behind this term - that it would distinguish the company in the minds of its key customers, that it would provide a rallying point and an instant quality-checker for staff, and that it was the latest move to demonstrate to the market the company's ongoing commitment to excellence following a long tradition of the same.
It's a truism that customers don't know what they want until they see it. Henry Ford once said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said 'Faster horses.'" But boy oh boy, people sure do know what they don't want!
If you are a job-hunter and your cover letter and CV are peppered with same-old, same-old generalisms and long extracts from your job descriptions you're in for a loooong job-hunt.
If you're doing business as usual, in exactly the same way as your key competitors, don't expect anything other than an indulgent, insincere smile from your customers when you tell them about System XXXX. (And you better hope that your products are patent-protected and not easily substitutable.)
And if you're the CEO and you're rolling out System XXXX, when you know in your heart of hearts that it's nothing special and nothing new, don't be surprised if your employees smile indulgently and insincerely from the teeth out, and stop taking you seriously.
In the course of the conversation with myself and another person, he used the phrase, "System XXXX" a number of times (XXXX being my anonymous version of his company's name). About the fourth time he used this soundbite, I quietly asked him, "Excuse my ignorance, but what is System XXXX?"
He seemed nonplussed for a moment, then remembered that I wasn't an employee of the company and went on to explain the thinking behind this term - that it would distinguish the company in the minds of its key customers, that it would provide a rallying point and an instant quality-checker for staff, and that it was the latest move to demonstrate to the market the company's ongoing commitment to excellence following a long tradition of the same.
"Hmmm," I said. "Would you mind if I just got a little clarification on that?"I've written about this before in many different guises. Seth Godin is the grand champion of the universe on this topic. No one cares about you. No one cares about your brand, or your logo, or your late-night brainstorming sessions, or your agonising over every word of copy in your TV ad, your sales brochure, or your CV. So here's the thing - if you don't really believe in your message; if your head, your heart, or your gut is telling you to put the brakes on - LISTEN to them!
"Fire away," said Mr CEO.
"You're a human healthcare company that researches and develops its own products?"
"Yes."
"And when you think you've found something novel or marketable, you patent it and then submit it to rigorous testing for efficacy and safety?"
"Absolutely."
"And if it passes muster, you submit it to regulatory authorities around the world, requesting that they approve it for use in human beings for certain specified indications?"
"And a damn fine track record we have in gaining that approval too."
"I'm delighted to hear it. So, when you get approval, you vigorously market the product - big launch, lots of ads, POS material, PR events, clinical trials, the whole nine yards?"
"Yup."
"Plus of course, you train up your sales force and get them out banging on doors, talking to opinion leaders and healthcare providers at all levels?"
"Yup."
"And you make sure that your logistics train is pumping plenty of product out into the channel, using the latest and best techniques of distribution?"
"We surely do."
"So forgive my impertinence, but how is that in any way different from any other R&D-based healthcare company out there?"
He looked as though I had smacked him in the head with a big fish.
"Who came up with this 'System' idea? Marketing? (he nodded) With a little help from some outside consultants? (another nod) And your Ad Agency, to design the logo and materials for the System? (nod). Answer me this - do you seriously think that a busy nurse, or doctor, or pharmacist, or surgeon, thinks that your company is different in any meaningful way from any of the other big, long-standing healthcare companies?"
He leaned forward and whispered, "I guess not."
"Hmmm. Let me ask you one more question. Do you seriously think that any of your employees, many of whom have worked for other healthcare companies, think that the way you research, develop, promote and distribute your products is different in any meaningful way from any other healthcare company?"
There was an almost imperceptible shake of his head, "Well, I guess we've gotta trust those marketing guys - they've gotta be doing something around here."
It's a truism that customers don't know what they want until they see it. Henry Ford once said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said 'Faster horses.'" But boy oh boy, people sure do know what they don't want!
If you are a job-hunter and your cover letter and CV are peppered with same-old, same-old generalisms and long extracts from your job descriptions you're in for a loooong job-hunt.
If you're doing business as usual, in exactly the same way as your key competitors, don't expect anything other than an indulgent, insincere smile from your customers when you tell them about System XXXX. (And you better hope that your products are patent-protected and not easily substitutable.)
And if you're the CEO and you're rolling out System XXXX, when you know in your heart of hearts that it's nothing special and nothing new, don't be surprised if your employees smile indulgently and insincerely from the teeth out, and stop taking you seriously.
2 comments:
Nice,
You could apply the same line of thought to the political parties standing in the election.
Very true. I've seen a game played where statements are taken off political websites and and even the party faithful are unable to distinguish their candidate from the opposition.
The blandness, the rush to the centre, the fear of upsetting anyone have led to a lot of very insulting communication, both in the corporate and the political arena. Insulting to the listener's intelligence, that is ...
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