Saturday, August 02, 2003

Tipping Points

Desperately disappointed that Warwick DC climbed down immediately, apologised and sent someone round to collect my refuse. Where's the fun in that? A long, drawn-out (why are things long and drawn-out, surely they only need to be one or the other?) written battle is such fun and the last two I have fought ended to my advantage:

Shell credited my account with 5000 extra promotional points for mucking around with my loyalty card

The Woolwich Building Society paid compensation for taking two months too long to arrange a simple mortgage

I guess Warwick DC simply don't have the funds to muck around with the aplomb of a national or multi-national player and are forced to retreat into useful and helpful customer service. In a week where my wife is walking around humming the latest retail mantra 'retail is detail' (I've been saying this for years and I learned it from Ruud Gullitt of all people) this is a sure sign that my Council Tax is being used wisely.

To explain the comment about detail, in a highly competitive world you give yourself an edge only through details. It may seem irrelevant to greet customers courteously, answer the phone quickly and keep the shop-floor and windows neat and tidy but if your competitors slip up it will give you a small advantage. Ruud Gullitt said that in the 1990s all Premiership football teams were good so the ones that got the details right and didn't make silly mistakes would generate a small advantage consistently.

'Tipping Point' is the point at which something generates such momentum that you can't stop it happening. You don't need to write a book that will sell 5 million copies. You need to write a book that will sell so many copies in a small period of time that it 'tips'. Then it will go on to sell 5 million whatever. It is also a brilliant title for a blog entry about refuse.

What shall I do today?

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