Keep up (don’t give up): How to take a tech trend-based work-ation

Last week, we talked turkey; this week, we get ready for the reindeer games.

'tis the season for reindeer games and...tech trends

But, there is still time to sneak in a couple of work-ations before the year is over—extracurricular explorations that can set us up for success in 2011. Work-ations are creative excursions (either actual trips or virtual dives) designed to inspire us, and help our companies get a jump on some of the trends that could kick-start revenue growth.

Today’s work-ation list focuses on one of the most important (and, sometimes overwhelming) trends that everyone in business absolutely must pay attention to: technology innovations. How do you dig into what’s new and match the tools to your business concerns?

WARNING: TECH TRENDS CAN BE OVERWHELMING AND POSSIBLY LEAD TO PARALYSIS

A friend recently visited a whiz-bang tech shop in Los Angeles and came away saying, “I don’t know if I should keep up or give up.”

We can't afford to give up

The truth is that we can’t afford to give up. We can all jot down a problem that’s keeping our company from moving forward, and design a work-ation refresher course to study someone who’s tackled that issue using technology.

A WORK-ATION IDEA INSPIRED BY TECH INNOVATIONS AN IDEA TO GET YOU STARTED: GEOFENCING

Trend-related work-ation task: Learn about geofencing.

It’s the next wave beyond zip codes and Groupons and Foursquare and SMS text messaging and Google maps.  Geofencing is the power to know where your customers are (physically) and their permission to customize offers to their (almost) every move.

With geofencing, a company like North Face or REI can ask a customer for permission to send out customized SMS text messages with offers that match the customer’s location. If I live in California and fly to Denver, REI or North Face can greet me with a text message that says: “snowboard rental discount available at these Denver locations.”

OK, it sounds 95% creepy (Big Brother is watching) and only 5% cool (Wow, someone knows where I am and is meeting my immediate customer need).

Geofencing is less Big Brother and more "We're Here for You."

But the ability to take customer intimacy and responsiveness to a new level definitely offers any business leader inspiration for amp-ing up his/her definition of “customer responsiveness.”

If we’re still stuck with an old-fashioned approach to coupons based on a static location-based offer (like for a free dessert at a restaurant in zip code X based on the fact that the customer lives in zip code X), we’re missing one of the biggest lessons we can learn from companies like Placecast and others taking advantage of the geofencing trend: our customers move around so our businesses needs to customize our relationships with them so that we’re where our customers are. All the time.

TECHNOLOGY HAS ALLOWED US TO SHIFT BUSINESS FOCUS FROM WHERE OUR CUSTOMERS LIVE TO WHERE THEY ARE (RIGHT NOW)

The shift from direct mail coupons to Groupons to geofencing is sort of like the shift from calling people’s houses (land lines) to calling people’s ears (mobile phones). Our places are no longer static, and zip codes are no longer the sole definition of where our customers need us.

Get a move on tech trends for your business.

Which technology trend will be on the back of your envelope this week and which work-ation will you schedule to catch up on the tech trends and contemplate your next moves in 2011?

Josh Kelley: Follow You

MUSICAL CODA

Follow You
by Josh Kelley

Everybody tells me I am wrong

When I know I’m not

Something in me moves me to be strong

Cuz its all I got

But I don’t know what to say

When you ask me everyday

My mind won’t let me play

The thought of you

The thought of you

So tell me what you need

I’m getting stronger

If you will help me see

It won’t be long now

Its time for you to leave and I will

Follow you follow you

Dora the (Business) Explorer: How to plan work-ations that will grow revenues, part 1

November means it’s time to think about turkey and very soon about mistletoe. But, in our business lives, we translate this time of year into pressure for Q4 results, with next year’s Q1 expectations looming in the not-too-distant future.

'Tis the season...

In companies all over the country I hear quiet cries for help: 2010 has been a challenging year for many industries with the impact of low interest rates haunting some businesses, not-yet-recovered consumers challenging others, and global pressures hitting us all.

The world of commerce isn’t for sissies, so we can’t afford to quake, tremble, or stay put very long. It’s time to rally once more before the end of the year and take action.

Q4 expectations

What would be the most powerful thing a business leader can do before year-end? It’s probably too late to change course too dramatically for the next eight weeks (although sales forces can perform their final rally to reel in some fence sitters). But, it’s not too late to get creative.  In other words, to carve out time to ask ourselves if a fifth grader were going to end the year with a bang, WWAFGD (What Would A Fifth Grader Do)?

The answer is clear. Take a field trip.

In business, we should create our own versions of what kids know naturally (and, what one of the folk heroines of the younger set, Dora the Explorer, demonstrates) when we’ve had too much reading, writing, and arithmetic.  We need to change scenery for awhile and get ourselves re-stimulated. We need to arm ourselves with curiosity, questions, fascination, and in Dora’s case, a monkey and a backpack, and hit the road.

Dora the Explorer says, “Pack your backpack!”

We need to plan at least 2 work-ations (vacations without the long flights) that will get our juices flowing about new ways to tackle our vexing issues. This week and next, I’ll share some of my recommendations, but the rules for why and how to “work-ate” are:

1. Why: Businesses learn from cross-industry insights. Studying another company’s approach to building consumer loyalty can inform our own and we can adopt someone else’s ways to kick up our offerings a notch.
2. How: Pick a company that rocks at something you’re trying to get good at. Ask yourself where your business is stuck and think about who’s doing a killer job in that arena. Then, go and visit (informally or by appointment—both approaches have merit).

Top Ideas for Work-ations to End 2010 with a Bang

(Part one this week; part two after Thanksgiving.)

1. Vexing issue: Customer loyalty.
Work-ation idea: Cooper’s Hawk Restaurant and Winery (Chicago)

Cooper's Hawk: hot concept for cross-industry immersion

I walked into this restaurant-qua-winery-qua-wine-bar and experienced unbelievably memorable service. The place boasts a cool environment with over-the-top customer focus. But wait, there’s more. It turns out that even at a time when many restaurants at this price point are struggling, Tim McEnery has created much more than a fantastic service model. He’s actually built a very loyal following with thousands of diners joining their wine club, and coming in every month to claim their (very affordable and great) bounty. You figure out the math. No wonder they won the Hot Concept award in 2010.

2. Vexing issue: Brick and mortar real estate.
Work-ation idea: Pop up stores (Dick’s Sporting Goods in Pittsburgh, Toys R Us Express 600 locations nationwide)

It was only a matter of time before commercial rents squeezing from one side of the vise grip and internet sales pushing from the other would yield a smart alternative to fixed rent—the popup store. It’s like the compactness of a cool Airstream trailer with the merchandising spirit of Barbie’s Dream House.

Pop-up stores: Brick-and-mortar meets Just-in-time

All accessible with updates via Twitter and other social media, many designed to be highly seasonal. Check out an example like Scratchproof Jackets in Sacramento California, Dick’s Sporting Goods in Pittsburgh, or Toys R Us, and be prepared to be inspired.

3. Vexing issue: What is the value of social media for business?
Work-ation idea (stay at your desk for this one): Follow some people on Twitter.

We’ve all heard opinions on two extremes of the social media spectrum. On the one hand, we see those fifth graders removing vowels from the words “Oh,” “My,” and “God,” and sending what we dismiss as meaningless drivel to each other, nonstop. On the other hand, we see that Martha Stewart has started to tweet. An easy work-ation idea—follow a couple of people on Twitter for a day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsFmaCEOqyw&feature=related). Below is a short video that gives the overview for business and http://www.associatesdegree.com/2009/09/14/100-best-twitter-feeds-for-savvy-business-students/ gives you a great list of Twitter hotspots to follow, like @mint and @zappos and @richardbranson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUhfDpCHeZ0

OODA

Dora the Explorer

Do-do-do-do-dora!

Do-do-do-do-dora!
Let’s go!

Dora, Dora, Dora the explorer!

DORA!

Boots and supercool exploradora!

Grab your backpack! Let’s go! Jump in!  Vamonos!

You can lead the way! It’s Dora, the explorer.

The power of WOW: How to rock your customers’ worlds

In honor of National Customer Service Week, Business Genome offers a lesson on how to tip the scale in favor of customer loyalty using the power of “wow.” Empathica’s Mike Amos has developed metrics linking the perception of wow with a customer’s intent to return to a restaurant. Zappos’ founder Tony Hsieh (and featured speaker at the recent Inc 500 conference) exemplified the economic strength of an SMB (small and medium-sized company) that recently sold for $900 million dollars. Zappos’ customer service is so over the top that if they don’t stock the shoes you want, they’ll find you someone else who does.

Wow is an approach that brings the customer from satisfied to loyal.

Umami, the fifth sense for business leaders: How to build a business based on what customers want but can’t tell you

Umami represents the fifth sense in the science of the physiology of taste. Although long-recognized in the East as a flavor sensation that augments the taste dimension that westerners have defined as salty, sweet, bitter, and sour, umami has only recently gained traction in the rest of the world.

Translate the concept of a formerly unnamed “sense” finding a name to the world of business and you have one of the Business Genome’s core lessons on how companies can uncover formerly unnamed consumer preferences. These preferences, sometimes called “latent customer needs”, are elusive to many, yet open a world of opportunity for business leaders charged with developing new products or services with legs in the marketplace. The Business Genome offers the how-to’s of uncovering “customer umami”–the fifth sense for sensing what the market is ready for, but cannot name.

Business School of Rock, aka, you say you want an evolution: How to yield the economic benefits of invention and creation

David Bowie’s Bowie Bonds represented a 1997-style innovation designed to shift the balance of power in the economics of music creation and distribution. Bowie’s original idea allowed individuals to buy asset-based bonds linked to the future value of his songs. Fast forward to 2009 and a new seismic shift in the creative landscape is starting to rumble where the dollars for ideas are up for grabs again–this time with books and their authors. Amazon’s Kindle and a new gadget in the works at Apple both threaten to take the power away from once-secure distributors and publishers. If the current direction of electronic book distribution continues, there may come a day where electronic book distributors outstrip the traditional publishing house’s ability to command the lion’s share of distribution dollars, thereby cementing a closer relationship with the authors. How might that affect the future economics of publishing? Business Genome’s Rules to Avoid Fossilization are the best bet for publishers and others whose lock on distribution will be threatened by new technological alternatives.