Here are the top five takeaways from our upcoming book (launches July 6th) P!NK GOLDF!SH 2.0:
1. IMPERFECTION WORKS
It’s easy to follow the crowd. It’s easy to blend in. It seems smart to do what other brands are doing. It feels safe. But it’s not. Successful brands stick out. They are different. They are unusual. Every weakness has a corresponding strength.
2. THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO BE DIFFERENT
We provided a lot of examples in this book, but we don’t recommend that you imitate those examples. In the words of author and speaker Joseph Jaffe, “Once is witty, twice is shitty.” We want you to see that there are an infinite number of ways to be unique. You can learn the principle from other brands, but you have to practice it in your own way. Who can you antagonize? How can you do the opposite? What can you withhold?
3. BE UNAPOLOGETIC
Be proud of what your brand does and what it doesn’t do. Be proud of your brand’s strengths and weaknesses. Don’t apologize for your flaws and don’t try to fix them. Instead, exploit your brand’s imperfections.
4. TO PLEASE SOME CUSTOMERS, YOU HAVE TO DISPLEASE OTHERS
You can’t be good at everything. You can’t make everyone happy. So don’t try. In fact, we think you should go out of your way to make some people unhappy. Choose whom you will reject. Decide whom to repel. Do it deliberately.
5. START SMALL—START NOW
You don’t have to change your entire strategy all at once. You don’t have to turn around completely, just swerve to the left or right. Look for a way to be micro-weird. Little things have a big impact (remember lagniappe). Don’t wait. Deviate.
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Stan Phelps walks the walk. He stands out in the sea of sameness by modeling his own Differentiated Experience (DX) message: Differentiation isn’t just about what you say, it’s about what you do and, more importantly, how and why you do it. Stan leverages his unique collection of 5,000+ case studies on customer, employee, and brand experience to engage audiences with informative learning-based experiences. He believes purposeful DX wins the hearts of employees and customers, and differentiation ultimately boosts loyalty, retention, referrals, and results.
Find Stan’s in-person and virtual keynotes, workshops, and Goldfish tank programs at StanPhelps.com.