The Excellence of Being First
September 28, 2005
Wouldn’t it
be great to know all of the networking opportunities available in your community?
Don’t you wish someone would provide something like that? Someone does – Scott
Ingram, Networker Extraordinaire and founder of Network in Austin.
When Scott told me the story of how he created the first comprehensive online listing of all the networking opportunities in Austin, I said, "Oh man. What a great idea! Wish I'd thought of that."
But, I didn’t. Scott did. And he discovered what Baltasar Gracian calls...
..“the
excellence of being first.”
Being first
is a great advantage in business and happens to be the secret to designing an
innovative customer experience. Some call it the “Wow Factor.” It’s doing
something unexpected, something that your customer has not seen before in your
industry. Like adding Wi-Fi, Karaoke, or homemade cookies. Yes, I know other
businesses have already used these ideas, but they might be a novelty in your
business.
I imagine someone will be wisely quoting Solomon about now. “Well,
you know, Mike, there’s really ‘nothing new under the sun’.” Yeah. I know. But,
you don’t have to invent something new to enhance the customer experience at
your business. Simply be the first to present something of value to your
customer in a new way.
Instead of
emulating our competitors, let’s innovate ways to present something that will
engage and entertain our customers. Let’s follow Scott’s example and discover
for ourselves, the excellence of being first.
Comments