OK, so it’s another one of those days, when you get to read my post about marketing… hey – it don’t happen often so I guess you could handle it.
Anyway, as I was leafing (virtually) through my feeds today, I came across another very short, and very subtle, but as usual, very profound post by marketing know-all Seth. It is an unusually long post for him, although in my books, he hasn’t even done an intro…
Mr Godin makes a brilliant point - that consumers are so focused on seeing how and where businesses fail (due to their raised awareness and expectations), that they would not spot a ‘perfect’ service or a business if it walked up to them and politely asked for their coat. And if they do spot one, the expectations rocket even further, so almost no word-of-mouth happens, and no recommendations.
Unfair – but very true. I won’t regurgitate the original blog post (you can read it here if you wish), but this is an important point to ponder on if you have your own business.
So many people hold off a launch of new product/business or service because it’s not perfect yet. And some of them never get to the start line at all.
There’s something about ‘perfection’… It’s hard to achieve in the first place and it’s so subjective that it might not even be possible to achieve in some markets. The worst part I think, is the fact that you have to maintain the level of perfection once you’ve set the mark so high – and there are just too many external factors playing at your reputation, holding their foot out…
But, there’s nothing wrong with striving for perfection in your business, marketing, customer service and so on. Just be aware and don’t get despondent when the occasional hick-up occurs.
So what’s the solution?
Well, Seth has a suggestion. It may be that it is more important in today’s business and marketing climate to be ‘interesting’ rather than ‘perfect’.
Phew! Sighs of relief all round…
So if you make sure that you have character (as a business), if you have something unique and interesting to say, show and do with people, then they will be more likely to talk about your business – more word-of-mouth. I guess it’s not such a new concept – it goes back to the need for a ‘purple cow’.
The bottom line is, that it will probably be better for your business and marketing efforts if you strive to deliver something interesting and unique, rather than something perfect, but standard…
And one last thought… Perfection in service is not so common yet – so could you choose ‘perfection’ for your ‘purple cow’?
Perfect blog post? Hahaha…
I think this is true for people as well…perfection is quite overrated anyway.
Well put Anita. From a development standpoint I think its very important to remember that must keep your original offering simple. If you try to architect tons of cool features you’ll only find yourself with a very distant deadline, frustrated programmers, and when you finally do launch your users will spend 90% of their time using one basic feature and may even be confused by the other features you’ve built. Keep it small, simple, and keep the lines of communication with your customer wide open so you can quickly react to their needs.
I am glad to hear interesting is better than waiting for perfect. We just launched our new web site with the concept that the user is looking for easy that works – not complex that takes forever to learn.
marc
Um, Anita, isn’t your avatar cleverly cropped so as not to show you with your hand over those stormtroopers’ private parts? Or am I wrong?
Tony, good to see you here ;o)
Marc, Tony, I agree completely. There has to be a cut-of line, especially with product features. In terms of how much users end up actually using would be down to a survey beforehand – that would be the only way to define how much is enough.
Julie, as usual, nothing escapes you… it was a close encounter nearly with their private parts, had they not finally agreed to turn around…