Predicting the future

April 21, 2020 by Wim GE De Vos 2 Comments

Today there are more futurologists out there than the total sum of “self-declared expert” national football coaches, presidents of nations and health experts in virology together.

There is a type of of futurologists I find interesting though.

Enter the “The Builders” -> Predicting the future by creating it.

Marc Andreessen & his VC squad wrote a challenging piece recently “It´s time to build“. Check it out.
Triple AAA: Actionable – Ambitious – A-political.
What will you build?

Tim Sweeney & the gaming gang on the metaverse. “Fortnite and the metaverse”
Going beyond the internet.
How to escape the stronghold of Facebook, Google, Apple,…?

Marc Cuban & his entrepreneurial posse on challenges and avenues for action. “What would you do as president“.
Particularly interesting how Cuban mentions existing trends with transformative power.
How do we amplify transformative trends for the better?

Striking how all of them try to predict the future by asking questions, invite to action, look for perspective and see transformation as a way forward.

Maybe, just maybe, we can learn from their approach?

It will be harder for sure than sitting back and consuming what is fed to us.
But it might just be more rewarding and have a real impact if we do…

Small decisions with a BIG impact 🤜🏻.

Inside 1st Wave 🌊: Sell Painkillers

April 10, 2020 by Wim GE De Vos Leave a Comment

We are still inside the first wave. Economically the situation is beyond our control, beyond our understanding. Beyond anything any of us has ever gone through with our businesses.
But in times of stress the need to be calm, decisive and positive is higher than it has ever been.

We control our own destiny. We decide if and how get through this wave.
We need to get back to basics in each of our businesses.

In previous posts we talked about Cash. And we have talked about People.

So let us now discuss our Value Proposition under these extreme circumstances.

Extreme short version:

Inside the 1st wave of this shit storm.

Sell painkillers 💊 to your existing customers.

But only offer your most effective ones.

The ABC of your Value Proposition for the next 4-8 weeks

Note: You will need extreme FOCUS.
Say yes to a few things and no to many.
(This will serve us well in 2-3 months when trying to surf the second wave).

A) Customer segment: existing customers.

You have the trust (real asset right now), you have a relationship (basis of all business), you can show you truly care how they are doing.
These are the people you can serve right now.

note: this is NOT the time to look for new customers, segments.

B) Needs analysis: find the pain.

The pain right now is acute (confronted with it every day), it is very real, it is urgent to have a solution and you will find pretty universal.
This is the equation you have to solve. Treat the pain. Now.

note: this is NOT the time to look for demand of luxury or desires to be fulfilled.

C) Your Offering: sell painkillers.

Think of products & services you can offer that are effective painkillers.
Could be networking, could be explaining how to use Zoom, could be a sound system or a TV to forget about the shit storm out there for a couple of hours.

note: sell only the best painkillers. Focus on the pains you can relieve.

People will remember. Make sure they remember you and how you made them feel.

Focus on your existing customers who are in pain.

And apply your crafts. You are as essential as you have ever been.

Be well, be safe. ✌🏼

The dark horse

April 9, 2020 by Wim GE De Vos Leave a Comment

Every day we choose between 3 approaches for everything we do:

Custom, tailor-made, one-off
Personalised, configured, repeatable
One-size-fits-all, standard, commoditised

But when we make our choices are we consistent, smart, see them in context?

Ask which of the 3 approaches you choose in the following cases:

connecting with our customers
drafting and sending proposals
delivering control or audiovisual systems
hire and fire
remuneration
training
service
making cars, speakers, systems,…
…

I dare to think we all use far too much custom and standard approaches…

When the personalised, configured, repeatable approach is the dark horse* in the race for success.

Custom is overrated

One-size-fits-all is overused

Personalisation is the dark horse…

Asking ourself some simple questions may have a big impact 🤜🏻 💥

*Definition “dark horse”:
a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds

Which ocean do you surf 🏄‍♂️? What planet are you on ?

January 18, 2020 by Wim GE De Vos Leave a Comment

Which Ocean do you surf 🏄‍♂️? *

What planet 🌏 are you on?

Planet Traditional: everyone is looking for the extraordinary deal.
What matters is: price – features – status.

Planet NEO (New Economic Order): people need to feel a connection with what they buy. It needs to represent who they are.
What matters is: design – how things work – authenticity – who you buy from – uniqueness – discovery.

Facts to bear in mind…

On planet NEO the tendency is towards smaller, personal companies.

93% of the world´s big spenders across industries live on planet NEO.

During the economic downturn of 2008-2012 NEO´s became more NEO and spent actually more on what really mattered to them.

Entrepreneur, friend, surfer, boarder Ryan Gustafson shared the following explainer video with me. Check it out and decide which planet you are on… VIDEO

*I am a big fan of Blue Ocean Strategy: learn more here

Luxury home tech is on the rise…🚀

December 3, 2019 by Wim GE De Vos Leave a Comment

Luxury home tech is on the rise…🚀

This is one of the largest growth markets since smartphones or electric cars.

Integrating technology into the home is a fundamental design principle for professionals involved in luxury home design , build and refurbishment.

Leading architects and building experts are predicting that the next few years will see technology at the heart of every luxury home, and they are full of praise for homeowners who are ahead of the game.

Small innovative companies are leading in a growth market that combines technology, design and personal service. We are playing at a level that the moguls will never be able to.

Our time is now.

Let´s make WOW the standard, together. 🙏🏻