What Would the Best in the World Do?

I’ve had a brilliant summer. We had an amazing family holiday in South Africa (Jana – you were right; it really is the most beautiful place and the people were extraordinarily friendly).

The last two weeks of August were also spent in Orlando on our annual trip to Disney.disney

All this time away from the office has given me great opportunity to think and reflect. Oh sure, I’ve been in touch with the office most days (that’s the curse of being an entrepreneur and running our own businesses – we never truly switch off do we) but, as in so many previous years, a clarity of thought and direction has emerged while I’ve been out of the day-today and one element in particular is, I think, worthy of sharing with you.

Before I do that though, let me tell you that this year was our 19th consecutive trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando. That’s a long time. I’ve never been anywhere else in the world as frequently. Even planning next year’s holidays when the boys are off at university, the reality is that every single one of the Botty clan is insisting that we have to go to Disney at some point in 2014.

Now, I find this really instructive. I haven’t begrudged paying Disney any of the many, many tens of thousands of pounds that I’ve spent with them over the last two decades, but I am interested, as a marketer, in what it is that they are doing that makes it so compelling and why everyone from Fabian (who’s only seven) to Cameron (18) right through to Sue and myself (well into our 40s!) wants to go back to Disney.

While I was there, I read yet another biography of Walt. Now, I’ve read a lot about him over the years and I know his story very well. It’s certainly worthy of study by any entrepreneur aspiring to super success. A couple of Walt quotes go some way to beginning to explain the success that Disney have had at generating very high percentages of repeat business.

The first one is his adage that “quality will out”.

For the first 30 years of the Disney Corporation, right up until the late ‘50s, Walt was constantly having to battle with his brother Roy (who controlled all the numbers and finances in the business) and other members of his management team to do the things that he wanted to do to the quality that he aspired to. You see, there were always ways that corners could be cut and money could be saved – and what’s important to understand is that until the Mary Poppins movie in 1964, Disney never had large surpluses of cash. Everything was reinvested into the next big project. Therefore, effective management of costs was a big deal. And so it is today (incidentally, you can read about Mastermind member Graham Parr’s tremendous success with cost reduction and how his entire year’s worth of Mastermind membership was paid for within half an hour of his opening meeting elsewhere in this edition).

Walt had a very firm philosophy that if people were to come back and visit and tell others about their experiences, then it would be the quality of what they delivered that would ultimately determine the success of the business – whether that was with a particular movie (we forget nowadays just how mind-blowingly ground breaking Disney animation was in the 1930s and 1940s when they were the only people making full-length cartoon animations) or with the theme parks that they built.

This notion that “quality will out” is something I’m trying really hard to carry through everything we’re doing in our business. I know we’re not there yet but we’re trying really hard and you’ll see a further manifestation of it at the ICC in Birmingham later this month.

The other Disney line that I’ve been refl ecting on is his quote that to achieve commercial success, you simply need to: “Do something so well that people want to come back and experience it again and will tell others about it.”

Isn’t that true of every single business?

I’m not suggesting it’s easy though to do something so well that people will talk about it to their friends, family or colleagues – but it seems to me that it’s a worthy goal and is something else that I’ve been setting my mind to in recent weeks.

So, having set the context, the big point I’d like to share with you this month – and it’s very much a work in progress from my perspective – is a new creed that I’m seeking to operate by. Not just in business but in other aspects of my life as well.

You see, I don’t want to be average or normal.

Not at anything if I’m honest.

I’m a fully paid up member of the club that says: “If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly.” So I’ve started to ask myself, repeatedly, throughout the day: “What would the best in the world do?”

I promise you, it’s a really useful question – and of course it plays right into those two principles from Disney.

So, putting it into practice – if we’re going to run the National Entrepreneur’s Convention at the ICC in September (which we are – looking forward to seeing you there!) then what would have to happen for it to be the best event in the world?

See what I mean?

I’ve been to plenty of events, all over the planet so I’m well placed to answer that question – and we’re going to try and make sure that we manifest it as such over those two days in Brum.

When I’m at home and my 12-year-old daughter, Tabitha asks me something, the mode I try really hard to flick into is: “What would the best dad in the world do with that?”

It changes the way you respond. And you can apply it to every aspect of your business.

What would the best accountant in the world do when a new enquiry came in via his website?

What would happen in the best salon in the world when a repeat customer comes through the door?

What would the best tradesman in the world do when he’d finished a job?

See what I mean?

It ain’t easy – and it takes real effort and  imagination to come up with the answers sometimes, but I think it’s worth it. Even if we decide not to implement – at least let’s do the thinking.

Whether it’s writing a letter, some copy, the way we deal with telephone queries in the office, any aspect of the business, what I’m seeking to do now is at least understand what the best in the world would look like.

We might not be able to get there straight away, but at least if we understand what it means we can make progress towards it and it’s happening – and you could too.

Sure, we’re making mistakes but we’re also making a heck of a lot of progress and it’s really fulfilling when you do stuff that you know, deep down, is genuinely world class. Which is why I offer this little nugget to kick of this month’s Circular. It’s not woo-woo, but it is difficult.

It is causing me to think more deeply than I have ever thought before about what me and my team are doing, how and why. I am, as a result, spending more hours than ever at work, in the office.

But then, we’re in the best position ever – and when you start doing stuff at this level, people do start to notice. Your customers start to notice and we’re already seeing real tangible commercial impact as a result of this approach. What’s more, I believe you will too, if you look for it.

Undoubtedly, it’s not the easy path – and it will, I promise, strain your brain. Despite what we might think, working out properly what the best in the world would really do given the particular situation that you’re considering is far from straightforward much of the time AND it requires you to get out of the warm, fl uff y, comfortable space that, if truth be known, most of us operate in on a daily basis.

If you want to join my crusade, I’d love to know about it – and especially what you’re doing.

Life really is precious – and very short. Anyone else up for doing something really amazing while we’re here?

Have a great month.