Becoming a Category of One E-Book

Joe Calloway

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 360

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

A revised and updated edition of the bestselling "no-nonsense guide to beating the competition."-Publisher's Weekly

Becoming a Category of One reveals how extraordinary companies do what they do so well and gives you the tools and ideas to help your business emulate their success. Packed with real case studies and personal reflections from successful business leaders, it helps you apply the best practices of the best companies to set yourself apart from your competitors and turn your business into a market leader.

Whether you run a multinational corporation or a two-person start-up company, the lessons you'll find here apply to any business. This Second Edition includes a new chapter on "tie breakers," updated examples of today's category of one companies, and special contributions from business experts, bestselling authors, and CEOs on the future category of one business.

• Revised and updated to remain relevant to today's market conditions and new innovations
• A new edition of the bestselling title from the author of Indispensable and Work Like You're Showing Off
• Today's struggling economy puts even greater importance on the theory and practice of business differentiation
• This edition includes 20 percent new material; if you liked the original edition, you'll love this new Second Edition
• Reliable, proven advice that works for businesses of any size in any industry

Now more than ever, you have to differentiate your business from the competition to succeed. Becoming a Category of One gives you the blueprint for building your own extraordinary business.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Preface

Chapter 1 - We Just Decided to Go

It’s Not a Miracle

A Deliberate Decision

Turning Points

Don’t Waste a Perfectly Good Crisis

When the Lead Changes Hands

Moments of Truth

Forced to Expand Our Definition

Go Big or Go Home

A Dangerous Assumption

We Get What We Want the Most

We Don’t Want to Go

Let’s Have a Pep Rally!

What Happened?

Answer the Tough Questions

Believe Then Become

CST—Taking It to the Next Level

Communicating the Vision

The Quiet Radical

Talking about It versus Doing It

Clear Out the Space

An Hour? A Year? Forever?

You Never Really Get There

Chapter 2 - What’s Your Story?

The Toughest Question

Your Story Is Your Culture

Your Story Is Your Brand

Your Story Is Your Common Focus

Boil It Down

Strong Language

Help the World See Better

I Get That Smile

The Power of Purpose

A Gift of Insight

Decisions in Advance

Do I Want to Work with You?

Dreams—Not Strategic Plans

Are You the Good Guys?

I Want Them to Succeed

It’s Just What We Do Here

The One Thing

Keep It Simple and Make It Clear

One-Trick Ponies

Beyond Survival

Chapter 3 - Success Means You Know What Used to Work

Change Is Good—You Go First

Past Success Is the Enemy

Big Changes? Little Changes?

Somebody’s Got to Buy Something

Outside-the-Box Lip Service

Stability through Change

The Invisible Fence

From Resisting to Running

Success Creates a New Reality

I Don’t Know

Whatever Happens Is Normal

It Depends on How You Look at It

The Lesson of White Water

The Hard Truth

The Most Fun and the Most Afraid

Chapter 4 - The Commodity Trap

Done While You Wait

Sad but True

Transcending Commodity

The Starting Point

The Trap of the False Promise

Danger Signs

You Can’t Advertise Your Way to Superior Performance

Customers Know the Truth

Beyond Expected Factors

Beyond Price and Product

Singing on the Plane

Way beyond Quality

It’s Your People?

Your Competition Already Said It

When People Truly Are the Differentiator

What’s Your Version?

Notice Me and I’m Yours

Chapter 5 - Your Brand Is Everything

Your Brand Is in the Customer’s Mind

Do They Love You—Or Just Know Who You Are?

First by Reputation—Then by Experience

Get on the Short List

Laura and Harley

Doing the Work versus Telling the Story

Inconsistency—The Great Brand Killer

Focus, Focus, Focus

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Brand Is Personal

The CST Brand: Our Mission Is You

Not by Accident

Brand Means Remembering the Point

A Promise Kept

Chapter 6 - The Three Rules

Customer Rules

The Greatest Competitive Advantage

It Starts with Knowing More

How Could They Not Know?

Sales Calls versus Customer Knowledge

Your Job Is Knowledge

He Guessed Wrong

Nice to Meet You—Thanks for Your Time

It’s Not the Customer’s Job

Markets of One

Know Who I Am

Generic Won’t Work

Losing Your Grip

You Only Know Who They Used to Be

The Emotional Connection

The Highest Level

A Glass in the Box of Detergent

Chapter 7 - The New Customer Reality

Minimum Expectations

Mad as Hell

Tough Customers—Tough Questions

Quality Is an Entry-Level Factor

The Total Experience

Price versus Experience

Service Today—Better or Worse?

The Customer Decides

How Do You Want to Buy a Car?

Exceeding Expectations—Really?

You’re Just Doing Your Job

Customers for Life?

Benchmark the World

Pizza Guy: 1—Banker: 0

Chapter 8 - Tiebreakers

What’s Your Tiebreaker?

The Ultimate Wow Factor

Beyond Table Stakes

Own an Expectation

Wild Goose Chase

Hotel Bathroom Origami

How to Get Rave Reviews

Happy Birthday: Our Price Is Low

What Tiebreakers Look Like

Be On Time. Is That A Big Deal?

If You Lose Your Job

Easy to Do Business With

What’s Your Version of That?

Superstar

No Matter Who

And the Good News Is

Work Your Way Up

It’s Right on the Coffee Cup

Chapter 9 - Case Study: Tractor Supply Company

A Raving Fan

Just to Be around Them

Transcend Commodity and Defy Comparison

Legendary Service

The Foundation

What Leadership Looks Like

Mission and Value Driver

Whatever It Takes

Little Things—Big Results

No Ivory Tower

Eye on the Ball

A Great Place to Work

A Great Brand

Becoming the Brand of Choice

What They Are All About

Chapter 10 - The Future Category of One

What Next?

Choose

Index

About the Author

Copyright © 2003 and 2009 by Joe Calloway. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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eISBN : 978-0-470-52935-5

For Jessica Rose Callowayand answered prayers.

Preface

Don’t strive to be a leader in your category. Create a different category, and be the only one in it. That’s the idea behind Becoming a Category of One.

For over 20 years, I have had the privilege of working as a consultant and business speaker for some of the best companies in the world. In that time, I have become fascinated with those companies, large and small, that are able not only to achieve success, but sustain that success over time and in such a way that they truly stand out as a Category of One.

There are lessons to be learned from these companies: lessons that can be immediately applied to your business, whether you are in a large corporation or are a one-man band. Some of the lessons may surprise you. But if you’re looking for rocket science, you won’t find it here. The lessons are as simple as they are challenging. Perhaps the most surprising lesson of all is that quite ordinary people who simply do what other people are not willing to do achieve extraordinary success.

There are common threads that run through extraordinary companies, regardless of the size of the organization or the industry that they’re in. Some of the companies we discuss you may be familiar with, most of them you have probably never heard of. What’s most amazing to me is that these Category of One companies are everywhere. You’ve got them in your neighborhood, and you know people that work for them. They range from big retail operations like LensCrafters and Tractor Supply Company, to companies flying under the radar of the popular business press.

Much of this book is about those Category of One companies that exist right under our noses: companies not that different from yours and mine that have created something really special because of the way they do what they do. There are many books on the shelves about the usual suspects: The Southwest Airlines success stories (and I relate some of those stories in this book) that we all know so well are inspiring, to be sure. But what I find more inspiring and often more practical are the stories of how a farm and rural supply store or a men’s clothing store or a tire store where the sales people run to the customers’ cars have managed to rise to the top level of performance and success.

What’s truly remarkable is the commonality of the threads of extraordinary success that weave themselves through this diverse mix of companies. What works for the small, 10-person company is precisely the same as what works for the billion-dollar corporation. These ideas aren’t mine. I’m just the reporter. Hopefully, I’ve learned a few things about business success along the way, but I’m not the expert here. The experts are the people that you’ll find in this book who have taken their businesses to the next level of performance, and do so on a continuing basis.

Becoming a Category of One company begins with a conscious decision. Every company that I studied had the experience of a moment of truth. For some, it was a fish-or-cut-bait experience, in which they decided either to take their business to that next level of performance or close the doors and do something else. Some companies found greatness because of a crisis, others because they recognized that they had become complacent with their level of success, and weren’t willing to settle for that.

Each of these extraordinary companies also has a clear sense of who they are. They all define themselves, not in terms of what they sell, but in terms of what the point is for their employees, stakeholders, and customers. The drive to serve, accomplish, and achieve is much more powerful than the drive to simply make more money or sell more widgets. It’s not that these companies are made up of save-the-world-do-gooders. All of the Category of One people I met and spoke with have a keen sense of competition, and every one was a savvy businessperson. But they all had a larger purpose that was tied to the significance of what they were doing.

The willingness to let go of what used to work is, for many of us, the most daunting challenge of all. Category of One companies not only let go of what got them there, they throw it out the door regularly to make room for what will work next. The trap of past success is a seductive, almost irresistible force. Category of One leaders constantly encourage their employees to look for the next great idea, even if it is met initially with derision and criticism. It takes real courage to innovate and real leadership to create the space for innovation to take place.

Your customers see you as a commodity, just as they see every other business out there. You will continue to be seen as a commodity, and be forced to compete on price, until you do something that transcends being a commodity in the customers’ eyes. Only when you differentiate yourself in a clear and powerful way can you become a Category of One company. Even quality companies like BMW have learned that quality is no longer the differentiator it once was. You must create a compelling customer experience to win in today’s marketplace.

Your brand is everything. By brand, I don’t mean your name, your logo, or your advertising. That’s not your brand. That’s how you try and tell the story of your brand. Your brand is who you are, what you promise, and your ability and willingness to keep that promise. Every Category of One company is dedicated, throughout the organization, to building, communicating, and protecting the brand. Your brand resides in the minds of your customers and potential customers. It’s who they think you are. It’s about people keeping promises.

Across all industry and professional lines, great companies large and small are driven by a focus on one factor: the customer. The three rules that Category of One companies all follow are:

1. Know more about the customer than anyone else does.

2. Get closer to the customer than anyone else.

3. Emotionally connect with the customer better than anyone else.

To take care of the customer may seem like the oldest business philosophy in the world, and indeed it may be, but what I found amazing is how few companies actually base their businesses on that philosophy. Category of One companies, without exception, are dedicated to winning and keeping loyal customers for life.

Your customers’ expectations are higher than they’ve ever been. And tomorrow they’ll be even higher. Your customers compare you to everybody, not just the other companies that do what you do. Category of One companies look for ways to improve by benchmarking the entire marketplace, not just their own defined category of business. A bank might find its next best idea from what the hospital down the street is doing with customer relations. You have to look everywhere for your customers’ new standards of performance.

When a prospective customer is trying to decide between you and your competition, what’s your tiebreaker? What do you do that any customer will plainly see and say, “Okay. There’s a clear difference. I choose you.” Too many companies get caught in the trap of looking for what amounts to a gimmick. The truth is that the most powerful tiebreaker is to simply do your job extremely well with every customer, every single time. Consistency of performance can be the most powerful differentiator of all.

For my Category of One case study, I chose what I consider to be one of the best companies in the world, Tractor Supply Company. If you haven’t heard of them, you probably will someday soon. The people at Tractor Supply Company have taken the oldest, most basic business principles in the world and made them the foundation for a company that succeeds by any standard. The loyalty of their customers is legendary, and the spirit of their employees is inspiring. The lessons on leadership that Joe Scarlett and Jim Wright can teach us through their beliefs, ideals, and everyday actions are among the most meaningful that I have ever experienced. It has been my great pleasure to watch Tractor Supply Company grow and prosper for 25 years. I thank them for their willingness to share their principles of success in this book.

Finally, I invited an extraordinary group of business experts, best-selling authors, and CEOs to give me their thoughts on what it will take to be a Category of One performer in the future. From a Gen Y expert that happens to be a Gen Y-er himself to the CEO of a most remarkable bank, they all offer unique perspectives on how to create success in the marketplace of tomorrow. Writing this book has been a humbling and deeply satisfying experience. With all the negative news about business and corporate America that we’ve seen over recent years, I come away from this project with a renewed faith that doing the right thing works, treating employees and customers fairly and with respect will lead to success, and that the good guys really do win. My hope is that this book is helpful to you and your business in Becoming a Category of One.

1

We Just Decided to Go

It’s Not a Miracle

The movie Apollo 13 opens with a gathering of astronauts at the home of Jim and Marilyn Lovell to watch the live television broadcast of an incredible event. Their fellow astronaut, Neal Armstrong, is about to become the first human being to set foot on the moon. There is a light-hearted, party atmosphere among the group. But as newsman Walter Cronkite announces the event, and we hear Armstrong’s immortal words, “One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind,” the mood becomes quiet, almost reverential. Even Cronkite, the veteran newsman with years of covering historic world events, seems nearly overwhelmed with the magnitude of the moment.