Break your industry standards and norms to stand out. Do MORE of what makes you weird or intentionally do LESS of what everyone considers as normal. Do MORE of what your customers value and unapologetically LESS of what they don’t.
Over 100 years ago, Clarence Saunders challenged an industry norm in Memphis by doing LESS. Before 1916, groceries were sold at stores where a clerk would fetch goods. They’d measure out flour and sugar, ground coffee beans, and add write prices in pencil on the back of the sacks.
Even the big chain stores used clerks. Although the chain store model kept costs down, clerks were expensive. Saunders’s self-serve model cut these costs. Shoppers on that first day did see some employees stocking shelves, but according to the Tennessee Historical Quarterly, “They politely refused to select merchandise for visitors.”
By the end of that first year, there were 9 locations around Memphis. Saunders would call his stores Piggly Wiggly. The chain now has over 500 grocery stores in 17 states. Why the weird name? According to the Piggly Wiggly website, “Someone once asked him [Saunders] why he had chosen such an unusual name for his organization, to which he replied, ‘So people will ask that very question.”
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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 keynotes and workshops at StanPhelps.com.