Most businesses are boring. As a result, we miss out on incredible opportunities for competitive advantage, employee engagement, and client retention.
Jesse Cole’s book, Find Your Yellow Tux, challenges us to stop being boring. He tells the story of how he bought a failing baseball team and transformed it into The Savannah Bananas, an entertainment spectacle that sells out every game. If Jesse can take a sport as boring and slow as baseball and make it fun, maybe you could make your business fun too!
This book is a gem. It’s packed with inspiration and ideas. Here are some of my favorite takeaways.
Be Different
In business, we tend to think that differentiation means our product our service needs to be different than the competition. Jesse paints a picture of differentiating through the experience. “Good businesses give customers talking points by doing things differently and making the feel good.” He goes on to say, “If you play it safe, you’re dead.”
Jesse quotes Blue Ocean Strategy: “Forget competing on everyone else’s terms. Do something different.” How can you be different? How can you liven up the process of engaging with your company? What could you do that would get people talking about you to their friends?
From Customers to Fans
Jesse’s company is named Fan’s First Entertainment. They don’t have customers, they have fans. The fans are the top priority. They want them to have a great time. This mindset drives everything they do.
“The predominant mindset in the business world is to maximize returns for personal gain. These kinds of businesses ask, ‘How can I make more?’ when what they should be asking is how they can make more for others.” (Mic drop moment.)
Make Everything Fun
Business does not have to be boring. A core part of a memorable client experience is having fun. Jesse says: “Fun isn’t an add-on to professionalism. Fun is professionalism.” Just as Jesse took the boring game of baseball and made it exciting, he challenges all of us to dream about how our boring businesses could be made fun of.
In Revenue Growth Engine I challenge you to consider the stages of the Buyer Experience and Client Experience. How could you make the experience better? In The Experience Economy, the authors believe that “even the most mundane business transactions can be turned into memorable experiences.” How? Inject some fun. Jesse recommends, “For every touchpoint, ask yourself: ‘Is it fun for them?’”
When you buy your copy of Find Your Yellow Tux, I recommend you also order a few (yellow) highlighters. You are going to need them! This book is packed with great ideas that will stretch the mindset of every business.
Originally Published on Revenue Growth Engine.
