I have always thought it would be a blast to live in a city that lends itself to walking and utilizing public transportation. Here in the south, we don’t really have a great setup for that. I’m not too interested in walking the nine miles to work each day and there is no public transportation between my house and my school. One issue that big cities have to consider is that occasionally people do like to have a car for a weekend trip out to the country or something exciting like that. Enter Zipcar…the company that simplifies the car rental industry in large cities. I enjoyed reading Compete by Meeting Unmet Needs by Jim Champy because that concept has to be the heart of any business that desires to thrive in this economy. Below I have posted several thoughts I highlighted while reading this short book…
- Zipcar’s customers tend to be young, well educated, technologically sophisticated city dwellers who cluster in characteristic neighborhoods. Similar to an army planning an invasion, Griffith and his marketers studied the maps of each Zipcar city, using postal codes and census data to find zones rich in drivers who fit the desired demographic. Then instead of paying a hefty price for blanket newspaper or TV ads, the Zipcar team focused on the people it wanted to reach.
- Go beyond convenience with layered benefits.
- Know what convenience means to your customers.
- Push your product or service proposition as far and as fast as you can.
- Economy shouldn’t mean no choice.
- Identify your potential customers and find a way to tell them what you can do for them.
- Broaden the use of your product or service by engaging with new customers who don’t overlap your current market.
- Look for natural allies who will benefit from your success or who can use your product or service for their own benefit.