It started out as a fun Friday Facebook post. A simple, incomplete sentence that read, “One thing that most people don’t…

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The truth is, I kind of lost my way.It was a slow kind of losing.Not the kind where you’re walking down the street, you take a couple of wrong turns, you realize your mistake and then boom … your GPS gets you back on track.More like the kind where by the time you realize that something’s off, the best thing to do is to sit down on the curb, pull out one of those huge, cumbersome, old-fashioned paper maps and spend some time taking a good, long look at the big picture.As it happens, I’ve spent a lot of time on that curb over the last few weeks and in the process, I came to an important realization.

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On the first visit, I was stuck in my truth.
On the second visit, my truth wavered.
On the third visit, I discovered the truth.

Several years ago, my stepmother was in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Slowly but surely her mind shut down and then sure enough, her body followed suit.

Although for several reasons I hadn’t seen my step-mother in some time, I did go to Halifax to visit her on three separate occasions over those last few months. Each visit brought me closer to a realization that has changed how I look at both life and business.

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Have you have ever wondered why some innovative ideas are hugely successful while others are not?

Well… if you haven’t, you should.

Depending upon the source, statistics show that the failure rate for new, innovative ideas
(products, services, business models etc..) is an absolutely staggering 80% to 90%.

And although there are those who would have us believe (which I don’t) that the reports of innovation’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, where does that leave us?

With an innovation mortality rate of 70%?

Of 60%?

It’s shocking… even depressing. But think I know what’s going on…

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I admit it.

I’m a chest-pounding, card-carrying Contrarian.

And nothing gets my non-conformist heart beating faster than the scent of an innovative idea that thumbs its nose at the saintly status quo.

For example…

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What do you do when your customers behave badly?

When they don’t pay their invoices on time …

Overstep the scope of their agreement …

Expect pricing considerations that squeeze what little margins you have left…

Or even worse, when they become abusive and disrespectful to your staff?

My recent Google search for the words ‘customers behaving badly’ produced over 23 million results.  Which was nothing compared to the whopping 532 million+ results I got when I searched ‘Dealing with Difficult Customers’.

Holy bad behaviour Batman!

But what if there was a way to stop that bad behavior before it starts? To nip it in the bud, so to speak.

A way to set the scene for customers to be on their best behavior now so that you don’t need to deal with the fall-out later?

Would that be of value to you and your business?

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Who needs a business card, right?

After all, research shows that of the over 10 billion business cards printed each year in the US alone, a whopping 88% of those cards (maybe even your business cards…) are thrown out by the recipient within the first week.

Which is even more depressing when you realize that less than 9% of those recipients took the time to even digitalize the contact information on those cards (that would be your contact information…) before they threw them out.

All of which absolutely begs the question…

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Let’s face it.

In today’s crazy economy, who isn’t trying to innovate on a budget?

And I’m okay with that.

Being fiscally responsible just makes good business sense.

What I’m less okay with is a mindset that I see running rampant throughout organizations large and small…

A mindset that is fast becoming an excuse for not innovating at all.

A mindset that I like to call…

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Look … I get it.

You’d really like your customers to focus more on value and less on price.

But here’s the big question.

Are you really doing what needs to be done?

Are you really doing what needs to be done to shift customer focus away from price and towards value?

Because here’s the bottom line.

Your customers want proof that your products and services are worth the asking price.

And if you don’t provide them with that proof, you leave them no choice but to default and focus on price.

But the good news is that there is a solution.

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I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid I was taught that hitchhiking was a bad idea.

But fast forward several decades, and I’m here to tell you that Hitchin’ a Ride could well be one of the easiest and most innovative ways to drive growth in your business.

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