Possibly the biggest problem in business today is that too many organizations have copied too many other organization’s best practices. That – in my never-too-humble opinion – is a direct, non-stop, one-way route to mediocrity.
Put on your consumer hat for a second. How do you feel when you’re on the receiving end of mediocrity? Would you be rushing back for more? Would you refer it to your colleagues, your friends or your family?
There’s an argument that says that mediocre products and services are better than poor ones – but that doesn’t sound like an overly convincing case when it comes to the consumer in me. Mediocrity is simply mediocre! It’s absolutely forgettable. It’s remarkably unremarkable!
Now…take a look at your operation. Take a look at your department. Take a look at your sales and marketing. Take a look at yourself. Is mediocrity what’s on the menu?
Want to know the future? I believe it’s a very big, very bright, very bold sign that reads “there’s no room for mediocrity around here”.
Wait…what’s that I hear? “Delivering the remarkable costs a lot of money!”
“Poppycock” I say!
Listen – you’re going to buy advertising in some form – aren’t you? It’s not going to cost a cent more for your advertising if you run a remarkable ad…right?!
And, predictably you’re going to occupy a position in cyberspace; send out direct marketing campaigns; have meetings with your clients; host special events; and do trade shows too. For these efforts as well, it’s not going to cost a cent more for you to create the space to be remarkable…right?!
At the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel there is no room for mediocrity. Sure, sure – you must be thinking – “with the Peninsula chain’s resources – it must be easy to be innovative”. Let me give you a quick example of how the hotel is creating rooms with remarkable service – built around unconventional ideas.
In 2012, Cornell University’s renowned School of Hotel Administration dubbed the Peninsula Beverley Hills Hotel (PBH) the Overall Best Practice Champion for an innovation that they say didn’t cost them a dime!
We’ve all suffered through the conventional approach to checking into a hotel after spending 10 or 12 or more hours on an overseas flight. You land in your destination at 8:00 am – desperate for a shower and some space to get horizontal. Ooops…sorry…check in isn’t until 1:00 pm. Not at the PBH. International travelers are given their room the moment they arrive – whatever time of day.
But – surely it must have been a nightmare to implement…
My friends, there are hassles with everything. To me, the question is, “can you build systems and change ways to eliminate the hassles and delight your guests?” For the PBH some of the room attendants had to come in earlier in the morning…and leave earlier too. They also had to switch to handheld vacuums – and not bring out the 747 driven models until after 10:00 am. Other than that – PBH implemented the innovation and told the story in the same media space…in the same trade show space…in the same amount of cyberspace…
Work with your team and deliver the remarkable. Remarkable is memorable. Remarkable is a sixth sense. You can’t quite describe it…but you know it when you experience it.
Remarkable is also a culture. You can’t teach it. But – you can lead it by providing fertile ground so that remarkable can grow…for your guests, for your teams and for your industry.
Step out of doing the same old things, the same old ways.
Step into the remarkable.
