Page 21 - Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing - PDFDrive.com

radio. Answering customer needs is the driving force during stage two of an
industry. Stage two is market-driven. Stage two companies offer their clients the
desired product.

Few companies enter stage three. These companies are in the pantheon of the
marketing gods—the Disneys, Federal Expresses, and Lexuses. Disney entered
this stage when it created amusement parks that went beyond what customers
said they needed—or could have imagined. Stage three is the phase that several
car manufacturers entered when they created heated car seats, stereo consoles
that slant toward the driver instead of facing the middle, and compact car trunks
more spacious than those on many luxury cars. In this stage, clients’ expectations
and expressed needs no longer drive the market. Surveys asking “How could we
improve?” no longer produce useful data; the customers have run out of ideas.

To differentiate itself clearly from the many competitors who are meeting its
clients’ expressed needs, the stage three company must make a leap; it must
surprise the customer. Surprising the customer is the driving force in stage three
of an industry. Stage three, as a result, is imagination-driven, and a company in
this stage offers the possible service.

Most services are treading water somewhere in the middle of stage two.
Many of those firms—particularly many professional services—are still
straddling stage one and two. Every service company must look at stage three;
that is where glory, fame, and market share lie.

Create the possible service; don’t just create what the market needs or
wants. Create what it would love.