Personalize For Me or Lose Me

These are fabulous times if you are a customer.

These are fabulous times if you are trying to serve a customer.

These are trying times to be a customer.

These are trying times to serve a customer.

If you stop for a second, maybe even a minute and think about it, this has always been true.

If you take a snapshot in time, innovations, disruptive technologies, changing customer expectations, preferences, wants and desires have always created opportunities and threats.

Today, and in the future, I believe the chasm is widening.

It has a nice ring to it.

The personalization chasm.

This universal law holds true for individuals, teams and companies

Those who learn how to create personalized, authentic, friendly, fast and hassle free experiences will be in demand and able to charge a premium.

Those individuals, teams and organizations who do not personalize will be on the wrong side of the chasm.

They will be commoditized, or worse yet, disrupted out of business.

Each and every customer has a massive amount of options available to personalize everything imaginable.

Here is a list just off the top of my head of the type of things that are now being personalized and individualized by customers:

  • clothing
  • food
  • medicine
  • delivery options
  • travel options
  • lodging options
  • homes
  • cars
  • jewelry
  • pet food
  • pet clothes
  • toys
  • avatars
  • biometrics
  • bodies
  • personal portals
  • pretty much everything!

Now think about every product or service that is available over a web browser or app.

  • everything.com
  • everythingelse.com

The days of one size fits all are over forever. Gone. Dead, but still not yet buried.

What we have are walking zombie corporations who are operating off of the “build it and they shall come” mentality.

Why would you build all these cars, park them on a lot somewhere, hoping that you build just the right color interior features that I might trip and fall into?

What an outdated model.

Why do you think Tesla has such a high valuation and is almost going to surpass GM in market capitalization?

They have figured out a way to let the customer personalize every step of the experience and product.

Even picking out component parts and tracking the assembly of your personalized transportation vehicle.

Not only does Tesla get it from a product and personalization stand point, they are also an innovator and obsessively focused on the customer experience.

They know that the status quo is really betting against them.

Tesla knows the power of word of mouth.

They also know the importance of not having any net detractors.

Look at what they have done with the recent feedback.

Most companies wouldn’t listen and/or be defensive.

Look at what Tesla did.

They extended their warranties at the expense of short-term earnings.

Instead of a three year battery and power train warranty it is now eight! That is pretty cool!

In response to recent public customer complaints about several issues, the CEO Elon Musk, when interviewed said he thinks the customer’s points were valid and that Tesla should have thought of it first so they are going to incorporate the feedback.

How awesome!

This is just one example of one company that has learned how to be disruptive while creating personalized, fast, friendly and hassle free interactions every time, all the time.

I am here to tell you the car is cool, but the philosophy is better!

Stay tuned for other examples of organizations that are killing it by personalizing it!

 

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