What can a popular TV show teach us about business
One of my favourite TV shows is Men of a Certain Age. The show is about three male friends in their 50s who are balancing the everyday pros and cons of middle-aged manhood. The best thing about the show? The tone of the show is very understated.
Believe it or not, I was thinking about that show yesterday as I was reading the article on thewallstreetjournal.com titled Apple’s Retail Secrets. Here’s a little taste: Apple goes to great lengths to train its employees at its popular retail stores, tightly managing what feels like a casual consumer experience. (The truncated version of the said article for the “too long, didn’t read” crowd.)
“But what does a popular TV show have in common with Apple’s retail stores?” Is that what you are thinking right now? Okay, here’s the answer: In both cases the experience is a. enjoyable; and b. highly scripted. You better believe it: in both cases, no matter how understated the experience may seem, the cast, the plot and the script are all there.
In my ebook Are You a Sales Phobic, there’s a chapter titled The product people can’t stop buying. It’s devoted to explaining the product we can’t stop buying; and how to deliver it. And what’s that product? Here’s a little hint: it’s made up from single building blocks called moments. And guess whose job is to design those building blocks? Yep, you guessed it—YOURS.