The Other Dan(ny) Brown

Instant coffee is fast. Instant coffee offers the quick solution you need at that time. Instant coffee keeps you satisfied until you can get to the gourmet roast or Colombian dark coffee from your favourite bean.

As customers, we love full bean flavour but we don't always need that - sometimes all we need to keep us happy is some instant coffee.

How's your business at serving coffee?

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You don't have to be a superstar. You don't have to be the top dog. You don't always have to be the number one.

It helps. It can offer kudos and creedence to your name. But superstars fade. Top dogs become old. Number ones can fall by the wayside and soon drop out the Top 10 altogether.

Stop solely concentrating on the numbers and positions. Instead, think about being a bridge builder.

We're in a people business. Yes, people work from numbers but they really believe in the connection. You're the bridge to that connection. The decisions you're making today are being viewed by others, and they will come to you for their needs. Or the needs of their clients.

They may want you to help build the numbers for their company, but it still all happened because of your bridge.

Build the bridge right and the numbers will follow.

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James Dyson looked at the vacuum cleaner and gave people a different way to do things - no bags. Simple.

EasyJet looked at international flights and gave people a different way to fly - no thrills affordability. Simple.

Sony looked at video games and gave people a different way to view gamers - cool mass appeal chic. Simple.

We don't always have to build something brand new. We don't always have to spend millions on research when the audience is already there. We don't always have to create from scratch.

Sometimes just reinventing the wheel is more than enough.

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Be fearless. Be bold. Be new. Be exciting. Be inspired. Be passionate. Be different. Be crazy.

The world is full of normality but who wants to stop at the world?

Be fearless.

Be you.

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You're responsible for a blogger outreach program. Who do you go for - the influencers? Is this the right approach? Why aren't you reaching for the evangelists?

Influencers take a paycheck (or some from of payment) to talk about you. They don't always have a vested interest in your brand. They won't necessarily tell you where to improve.

Evangelists don't need a paycheck. By all means, give them first shot at your new goodies, but payment? Not their style. They have a vested interest in your brand. They want to see you be the best, so they'll tell you what you're doing wrong and where you can improve.

Influencers are for the now. Evangelists are for the now and after now.

Still want to reach the influencers?

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If approached properly, a complaint can turn into a discussion can turn into a process improvement can turn into a case study. Everybody wins.

Are you being clever with complaints?

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If someone tells you that you want something, do you listen? Or do you ignore and think that only you know what you want?

If someone asks what you want, do you tell them your ideas and wish-lists? More than likely. We all like to be heard.

So why are you telling your customers what they want? Why are you not asking them? Instead of saying, "Hey, this is our new product, it's just what you've wanted", why not say, "Here's the product you asked for"?

Or is that too simple?

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Love is fleeting. Love can come and go. Love can be betrayed. Love can be consuming and powerful. Love is everything.

When was the last time you loved your customers? Your clients? Your employees?

Offer them your love. Unconditionally.

You never know how much love you'll get in return, but you may be pleasantly surprised.

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The best strategies have an exit plan. These are the thresholds that say, “Okay, we tried but it’s not working.”

Can you adapt something that isn’t working? Did you plan for all eventualities? Do you have an exit strategy?

If so, what’s your threshold?

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If I want to watch repeats, I’ll subscribe to some crappy network that just shows re-runs of ABC, CBS and other programming misfits.

But if I want to watch innovation, I’ll subscribe to HBO.

I know who the HBO people are - the rest are just missing out on viewers.

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