In A League All Their Own
July 15th, 2021 // 10:26 am @ Scott Manning
There’s nothing I enjoy more than doing business with a business that has passion and that differentiates itself by the experience they provide. Not just better service but different altogether, in a league all their own.
And it doesn’t have to be a restaurant though those our for sure my absolute favorite because I love to eat.
Behind everyone of these businesses is something more than just a concept or training, because all of the ideas and skills in the world can’t bring to life a business. That might make it good, even great, but it can’t transcend you to a place that you just want to do it again and again and keep going back to see out what else they can sell you.
Interestingly, there is a commonality amongst these businesses and it’s this… they never lose the core principles that came from the original creators that define what they stand for and why they exist in the first place. They have a story to tell and they embody it. They draw you into it and make you a part of it.
Here’s what I’ll tell you, if you aren’t doing this, telling your story and making your customers a part of it, then you are just doing the thing you do and that thing (whatever it is, no matter how great), they can get somewhere else.
There are in fact alternatives, to everything.
The only thing there aren’t alternatives for is that which only you can provide and that is something bigger than products, services, and even people. It’s not the what or even the who – these all matter and they do make a difference but they aren’t the difference makers – instead it’s the why…
I’ll tell you something else about these. They aren’t trying to be the cheapest and cut so many corners just to get the price down or the profits up. They have integrity to everything about them and all of these things are more important than all of those things.
What’s your list of the unique aspects for your business, your brand, your experience, that you vow and promise to never shortcut, to never water down, to never slight, or to slack off on?
The fun part of this is when you have a business that is built like this you automatically buy yourself liberties with your customers to do things your way and on your own terms.
I’ll give you some examples of recent experiences that I’ve found intriguing which is not easy to do, as you can imagine.
Exercise facilities are a dime a dozen but I’ve come to absolutely love Orange Theory Fitness and they are filled with unique attributes. No one makes it a game, a challenge, a contest with yourself like they do. They’ve mastered the individualized training experience with the scale of group that you never know exists.
The thing is everything is woven in from the founders mission to the vocabulary used to the personal development lessons and so much more.
You can see great business models and make a study of how they win over their customers and indoctrinate them to get the following they have.
A couple weeks ago we purchased our first Traeger Grill. So many people swear by it, I had to try it. I like to grill but I’m no aficionado but I took the advice of some others and went for it.
I was won over just by “hand scribed” welcome letter by the founder and the fun materials inside. Then the box that turns into a kid’s play house – intentionally designed to do so with extra instructions to make it happen – was special.
The branding and quality of their ancillary items are cool as well. They have great ways of force-encouraging you to use their particular wood pellets among other things. It’s been fun to experience being their customer.
All of these businesses could do better. Of course they can. There could be more engagement, premium membership, more follow-up, but hey that’s why I get the big bucks, I can find a lot of things to make them better – but they didn’t ask. The real secrets and the value to you is in what they are doing right.
And it’s also a lesson for you about always looking for and being alert to inspiration and great examples of business, services, experience, money making in general.
Sometimes it’s going to be how people talk with you and other times it’s going to be an amazing email you got or a pricing structure layout or the owner’s story.
You never know where you’ll get an idea for your business or a reminder of something powerful that could be incorporated.
Pay attention my friend. There are powerful ideas and strategies all around.
In June, we hosted a couple of our Wealth Groups out in Utah at The Sundance Mountain Resort and it was extraordinary for a lot of reasons. First, we know how to create memorable experiences, we do it every quarter.
The location helps. It was stunning with the stream and water running right down through the middle of the property from the mountain tops all the way down, literally through the resort and every feature was orchestrated around it.
However, while not the highest end place, what we really noticed was something very special and that was every single team member working the event, passing out food, setting up tables, whatever they were doing – they were happy. More than just friendly, they were excited. They embodied the message from Redford and what it meant to be a part of it. They themselves were not only “working,” they were “experiencing” this unique and majestic place too.
Now on to food… there is no place like Jeff Ruby’s. And if you haven’t been, fly to a city where one exists and make that your entire purpose and trip. It’s world class experiential.
I have more to say about this as I’m about finished reading his auto-biography and it’s as crazy and brash as he is and you get the flare and the attitude that the restaurants have.
I can tell you in Nashville, even the highest end places just can’t hold a flame to Jeff Ruby’s and on top of this they are see as a neighborhood spot even though it’s a premium restaurant. They have managed to capture the business crowd, the personal event crowd, the celebrity crowd and the local crowd and be “the place.”
Flip that over and another thing I love is call Meel. It’s one of those home delivery companies for meals where they send the menu and the fresh ingredients but I got to tell you it’s way above and beyond ‘food in a box.’ It’s just better than everything else out there. The menu cards are fun, the selection allows you to custom make an entire meal instead of just an entrée, and it’s extremely high quality.
I could keep going.
I have clothing examples and pretty much anything else examples because I’m a great buyer, a great customer, a great capitalist, and a great supporter of people and businesses that do it right.
I appreciate good business in every way and reward it accordingly. You should too.
The commonality is their love of what they do but it goes deeper than that. They have roots and they stayed true to their original inspiration and they are run on principles. They won’t compromise because those principles are what made them different and gave them a fighting chance from all of the other alternatives out there in the first place.
They moved from one alternative in a crowded category to a category of one. That’s because they made it something they would be proud of and they’d want to be their own best customer of and if that’s not a lesson of business success I don’t know what is.
I’ll leave you to ponder that and to think deeply about how you are using your own story and bringing to life your roots and principles in everything you do.
There’s a lot to think about here and go to work on, at least that is if you want to be more than just one alternative and instead you want to be in a league all your own.
Category : Blog
