There are a growing number of die-hard Apple fans who have found a neat way to have their cake and eat it too - Inexpensively!

What they do is buy an old PC and then switch the operating system to their beloved Apple platform, a move that has apparently become a good deal easier since Apple now allows Windows to be run on its platform. I don’t fully understand how all that works, but the net result is the customer ends up with an operational Mac for less than 1/2 the price.  

When investors asked some time ago why Apple won’t offer a lower-cost option, Apple president Steve Jobs replied “We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that.”

Bravo, Mr. Jobs!

Steve Jobs understands that rather than worry about how to offer something for every market segment, their overall brand value lies in being able to deliver a quality product at a premium price for the right customer segment.  That way the customer can depend on the quality of the brand and of the value of the investment.

Before you try to offer product choices for too many market segments, put a pencil to it. Determine what the cost to your brand for serving new market segments less efficiently than the ones you currently serve could be. You may find that the benefits of supporting a sure thing greatly outweigh gambling on trying to serve everyone. You might be better off putting that investment toward improving your higher-margin products.  When customers ask why you won’t provide a “cheaper” offering, tell them how you and Steve Jobs believe it’s for their own good!

“Diversification is for the ignorant.” - Warren Buffett

Typically it’s better to be first into the market because the organization or product who is first in the market winds up being first in the mind when consumers are making their purchase decisions. A degree of ownership accompanies being “first” into the market because the opportunity to obtain ownership of the whole category or “high ground” is possible. But is being first absolutely essential to success?

Actually, there may be some genuine advantages to being deliberate rather than first. One is that by letting somebody else be first, they have to shoulder all the R&D expense. They have to work all the bugs out of the system, educate the marketplace, and earn the trust of the customers. And that takes a ton of money and a whole bunch of trial and error.

Consider what happened in the Internet service provider category, and how few of the “first movers” are even around any more. Originally companies like Prodigy and Flashnet were the service providers who made the miraculous Internet available to the masses. They took a considerable amount of share of mind and market share, and should have been able to keep the high ground. What ended up happening, though, was that companies like AT&T watched to see if this “Internet thing” was really going to take off or not, then they said, “Hey, all you need is a bunch of phone lines and a big server to get into this business, and we’ve already got that” so they jumped in and an all out war was on, but AT&T and its peers had a slight advantage because they could forgo many of the “start-up costs” and allocate that savings right to their bottom lines.

Perhaps Larry The Cable Guy said it best: “The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap!”

The answer is less about who’s “first” than it is about who better serves the customer. So remember that the customer IS the answer and whether you show up first or second or fifth to the game, you know there will be someone in the stands cheering for you as long as you’re giving them something of value. Simply watch for opportunities to be better, then build a relationship with your customers based on that.

I once heard of a law firm that had one guiding principle that was ingrained in every single employee at every department from the time they were first hired. It goes like this: “You’re either serving the client, or you’re serving the person who’s serving the client. If you’re not, then what the heck are you doing?”

With this simple principle, they help get everyone on board and keep them on board day to day with the idea of serving the client, who is the whole purpose for the organization’s existence, anyway. The principle also helps ensure that so-called “support functions,” or those departments that may never have direct customer contact, understand that they play a very important role in the organization and that they, too, are stewards of the organization’s greatest asset, its customers! The “If you’re not, what the heck are you doing” part also serves as a compass to help keep each employee on task and to help avoid inefficiencies. If what we’re doing doesn’t ultimately benefit the customer, after all, why do it? In fact, this principle could help guide every decision the organization makes, like we discussed in the WTGBRFDT post a while back.

If guiding principles are taken seriously and are backed up by action, they can be some of the most powerful strategic tools an organization has. Drucker said the purpose of the organization is to create and serve the customer. We’re all serving the customer or serving someone who’s serving the customer, and if not, what the heck are we doing?

As the Mack Truck Company began to craft its brand message, they very wisely asked some of those who had used their products for their input. Mack Trucks had been used extensively in World War I, so studying the trucks’ performance under such harsh conditions was an obvious way to look at a lot of product-specific attributes.

But the real “a-ha’s” came as a result of unsolicited feedback. Soldiers shared several powerful, emotional stories about how relieved they would be on the battlefield to see the easily-recognized Mack trucks dependably trudging through the mud to bring supplies, medical aid, etc. British soldiers remarked that the very shape of the trucks reminded them of a tough bulldog, which coincidentally happens to be Great Britain’s national mascot. The rest, as they say, is history. Mack instantly adopted the bulldog as their brand symbol, placing likenesses of the rugged canine on the hoods of their trucks.

The Customer IS the answer to every marketing question! We need to be sure we have as much open dialog with them as possible, both formal and informal, and that we LISTEN when they have something to tell us. What they have to say could be worth a fortune!