As most of you are seeing this post for the first time, I'm behind closed doors with a group of six-dozen digital sales leaders talking about something crucial - innovation - in a very non-standard way.
In our industry, we tend to think of innovation almost exclusively in terms of technology: it's always about a new algorithm or bidding engine or streaming solution that's going to change everything. It's a natural conclusion, since we've all been brought up on the fable of two guys in a garage or a dorm room tinkering away at world-altering technology. Jobs, Brin, Page, Gates - these make up our pantheon of digital change. But there are two major problems with this narrative. First, it disempowers the rest of us...we end up as hapless pawns on a chessboard that's always on the verge of being overturned. Rather than being agents of our own fortune, we accept helpless victimization. The second problem with this fixation on "the next big thing" is that it's not even true.
One of our speakers at today's Seller Forum is Dr. Kumar Mehta, author of "The Innovation Biome." In his book, Mehta challenges the myth head on. The next big thing is usually NOT a thing at all. It can be a policy shift, an approach to pricing, or even just a change in a process inside your company. In addition to not being things that one needs to invent, these examples also have one more quality in common: they are eminently controllable by the sales leader and other executives in the company.
- Amazon didn't have to invent anything to offer free shipping and tie it to your Prime Membership.
- Airlines didn't have to invent new technology in order to create frequent flier programs.
- Google didn't invent search; only a radically different way to buy it.
Embracing this new narrative democratizes innovation. It's no longer a thing that 95% of the company waits around for (or fears), and it doesn't only happen during formal brainstorms or executive retreats.
By simply questioning our assumptions, asking "How might we" and breaking down and examining our own processes, we can yield extraordinary results.
- Can your team adopt a new pricing model for your services or inventory?
- Can you offer free services alongside your core offerings to justify your premium price?
- Can you reorganize the ways in which your teams work on client problems to deliver superior results?
- Can you fundamentally change the approach toward meetings - both team meetings and one-on-ones - to build innovation and experimentation into your culture?
The answer to all these questions is yes. How frequently, though, does our first answer end up being no? Perhaps a better first response to most all of our business and revenue questions should be Yes...and....
The next big thing just might be you.
