Question: Tom, There are leaders in our company who have not heard of and others that don’t believe in what you call mass customization. How can I prove it to them without insulting their intelligence? M. V.
Answer: M. V. You do not need to prove it to them – you need to help them “see” it – it is hidden in plain sight. Ask them to consider the following: there has never been two multiple item carts at the check-out in any grocery store, Wal-Mart, Home Depot or any big box store that are alike? The Store contains the standardized Mass and they are the Customizer who is pushing the cart. There are no two cell phones alike. There are no two Harley bikes alike. Every person’s insurance portfolio is customized. An ATM allows them to “customize” their banking experience. Every round of golf is “customized” using the 14 clubs of “mass.” The design of every air conditioning system is “customized.” Yes, many products are still mass produced, but somewhere they go into a Mass Customized SYSTEM. It starts as the “mass” called a coffee bean and goes into the “customized” Starbucks experience.
Mass Customization is a massive competitive advantage and very profitable. Consider why Wal-Mart has been successful. It is a “massive” arena for “customized” shopping and it is this reality that allows them to offer “low prices” to “orchestrate” that “buying experience” for their customers.
Never insult anyone's intelligence. It is an awareness issue. Help them be aware that “buying” is always “customized” regardless of the perception that the “seller” may have about his/her business. No company can survive as strictly the “Mass” today. The “buying experience” is king. They can experience this transformation in awareness using the Transformational Sales and Leadership Simulation. It legitimately “confronts” those who do not “believe” that Mass Customization is real and here to stay.