June 8, 2016
This past weekend, I was in Sydney for a strategy / mentor advisory meeting. Sydney happened to have Vivid Sydney (a color light show throughout the city with entertainment etc.) in full force for the first two weeks of June – what a great way to spur excitement at the start to the winter season! Of course the iconic Opera House is truly amazing (see one of MANY, continually rotating color displays below):
Similarly, what are you doing to attract new customers, employees and other partners during your low season? Or when everyone else is worrying about oil prices, the economy or something else? Or, what are you doing to generate excitement over what you already have (current products, services)? The Opera House isn’t new! One of my best clients hired top talent at the bottom of the recession when he didn’t have specific work ready. It has come back to him in spades!
One tip to implement this week:
Think about what you could do this week to rejuvenate one of your classic products or how you could get your customers excited about a new twist or view of what they’ve been receiving for quite a while. Ask your colleagues. Often, the best ideas come from where you least expect it. You could also simply get them together to share ideas and best practices – who doesn’t want to hear more on that topic? I still laugh when I remember what James said (a Planning Manager who reported to me when I was a VP of Operations of PaperPak) – referring to forecasting models in a software we used, he said, “Why would we ever choose a forecast method other than the one called ‘best’?”
It doesn’t have to be as extravagant as Vivid Sydney (as that is not doable in a week anyway). What small step could you take that might be a new way of looking at your product, service or customer experience? Vivid Sydney had to start with one lighting design or idea.