Over the past few months, I’ve witnessed many of my clients experiencing wild success. While I would like to attribute all of their successes to the having the brains and wisdom to hire me, there’s something bigger going on here.
I’ve spent a lot of time in the air recently, so I’ve had time to ponder their successes without two toddlers crawling all over me.
Most of these successes were the direct result of owners, executives, and directors realizing that what got them here won’t get them to where they want to go. We’re operating in a new business environment, where everything we’ve known and understood for years is being challenged to its core.
You already knew that though.
You already knew the world is moving faster than ever.
You already know your people, customers, and clients are more connected than ever before.
You also know that the very concept of value is changing, and that intangible products and services continue to create new opportunities.
Our very notions of how our businesses should operate are rapidly changing on a daily basis.
I have clients who manufacture products but are recognizing that new models, like crowdfunding, for example, can change the very dynamics of the manufacturing process.
They’ve realized that if they keep doing what they’ve always done one two things will happen.
Their businesses will either slowly erode year after year (as has happened with the travel industry, and most retail companies). Or, they will collapse overnight (as has happened in those areas we see tech innovation completely upend the way that traditional industry works).
The key commonality I discovered is this: They are all continuously defying industry norms.
Industry norms are good if you like average results. If you want to conform to being average, then you’re going to see average results.
Here’s an interesting question to ask yourself: How can you break every single norm in your industry?
For example:
How are things sold?
How are deals completed?
What’s the manufacturing process?
What kind of service is provided?
What’s the typical warranty or guarantee in your industry?
Where does everyone else advertise and market?
Are proposals twenty pages or longer? What if all of yours were a maximum of two pages?
Start breaking the rules, and you’ll break through to new levels of success. I can give you dozens of examples from the past six months (and those are just from my clients!)
Try creating a list of everything that’s considered a norm in your industry, and then ask yourself, “how can we break this?“
Go ahead, cause a little ruckus in your industry.
P.S. We’ll also discuss this concept at the Evergreen Summit in October, and why even your own customers are craving for you to break industry norms! Early-bird discounted tickets available until June 30th. VIP tickets are still available! Sign up HERE: http://theevergreensummit.com
