Investor and author Guy Kawasaki says the business world needs more
charm. Here's his 10-step formula to enchant customers--and build a
great big company.
If you want your company to be the next Apple, Zappos, or Virgin, take a page from their playbooks: Enchant your customers.
To do that, Guy Kawasaki, the investor,
author, and former Apple "chief evangelist," boiled down a modern
entrepreneur's goals at the Inc. 500|5000 in Phoenix on Friday like
this: "You want the quality of Apple, the trustworthiness of Zappos, and
the likeability of Richard Branson."
In his book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, and in his speech, Kawasaki outlined the path to "enchantment" in 10 steps.
Here they are:
1. Be Likeable
It's simple. You cannot achieve
anything if people do not like you. When Kawasaki met Virgin founder
Sir Richard Branson, Branson asked Kawasaki if he flew Virgin. "When I
said that I was a United Global Services member, he got down on his
knees and started polishing my shoes with his jacket. This is the
moment I started flying Virgin," Kawasaki said.
2. Be Trustworthy
"You
can like Charlie Sheen--that doesn't mean you trust Charlie Sheen,"
Kawasaki said. Trust is never a given, so your company needs to be
proactive and project an air of trust, he added. One easy way to extend
the first hand of trust to your customers is by giving them something,
with no strings attached. As an example, Zappos gives customers
unlimited free shipping both ways.
3. Perfect Your Product or Service
It's a lot easier to enchant
people with great stuff than crap. "I have tried it both ways," says
Kawasaki. So how can you tell if your product or service is 'great
stuff?' It's great, says Kawasaki, if it's "deep, intelligent,
complete, empowering, and elegant."
4. Tell a Great Story
Your company needs an origin
story. Look no further than eBay, with its founding story of Pierre
Omidyar wanting to enrich his girlfriend's ability to trade Pez
dispensers (her alleged hobby). It's a cute story, but a "total
bullshit story," Kawasaki chides. "But you need a story."
5. Overcome Resistance
Kawasaki says it might be tough
to get a parent to buy a kid a shoot-em-up game. But what about a game
that's marketed as an educational toy? Sure, parents will buy that.
Other ways to overcome resistance: show social proof--your friends are
doing it!--or providing data as evidence.
6. Make Your Enchantment Enduring
At Grateful Dead concerts, there
was a special area for show taping. The band wasn't worried about
piracy; they wanted the concert to endure over time. How can you apply
this to your business? Invoke reciprocation at every chance you get.
When someone says "thank you," the optimal response isn't "you're
welcome," Kawasaki says. It's "I know you would do the same for me."
7. Be a Great Presenter
When speaking to a group,
customize the introduction to your audience. Kawasaki does this by
showing an intro slide of him doing something the local people--be it in
Edinburgh or Istanbul--can relate to, like eating haggis or trying on a
fez at a bazaar. Keep your presentation short. Kawasaki says the
optimal formula for a presentation is 20 minutes and 10 slides, using
30-point font.
8. Use Technology
"It's
a great time to enchant people with technology, because technology is
fast, free, and ubiquitous," Kawasaki says. But there will always be
speed bumps when new technology is involved. (Think: An indecipherable
captcha screen.) Get rid of it, or risk losing customers.
9. Enchant Up
How
do you impress your boss? "When your boss asks you to do something,
you drop everything else, and do it," says Kawasaki. If it's a big
project, you should drop everything and make a prototype--fast. Draft
an early rendering, and ask your boss if that's what she's looking for.
10. Enchant Down
If you're the boss, you
need to not only enchant your customers, but also your employees. One
easy way: "Show that you are willing to suck it up," Kawasaki says.
Bottom line: Get your hands dirty.
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