Differentiation

Greetings.  I don't spend a lot of time on YouTube even though I realize that it's a brilliant website and an immensely powerful idea.  After all, it's hard to make time for videos–no matter how clever they are–when there's a business to run, work to do, a house to maintain, and kids to keep focused and productive.

But wait just a minute.  

Because I finally figured out the real power of this extraordinarily simple website as a tool for helping companies to differentiate themselves.  And it happened only because the icemaker in our refrigerator decided after years of loyal service that life was no longer worth living.  Or that it was no longer fun to make ice.  Not that it's the biggest tragedy on the planet, but I realized that I liked ice a lot and had been taking it for granted.  And going without it for a few days was making me sad.  In fact, I'd come to rely on our ice maker almost as much as our dog Ella relies on the kids dropping their least favorite dinner items under the table every night.  Never mind that until 1826 people in many parts of the world lived contently without ice. Because it wasn't until that fateful year that Frederick Tudor, known affectionately as the "Ice King" of Boston, began harvesting ice from the ponds of New England and floating it to customers throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and even far away India.  But I digress.

So in my quest to repair our wonderful ice maker I decided to go on line to do a bit of homework and then scout out the necessary part.  And in doing so I discovered that a lot of companies exist to meet the needs of "do-it-yourself" repair people by providing parts and even guidance.  Sure there are companies that simply sell parts at the lowest price, and other companies that simply sell parts at a relatively high price.  But there are also companies that sell parts at a competitive price and have figured out clever ways to help you make repairs successfully.  Which brings us to the real topic of today's post, because the good people at the Repair Clinic have actually produced more than 100 YouTube videos on how to do common and not-so-common home repairs–videos that any of us can use to save time, money, and frustration.  Videos that help set this company apart by making the customer smarter and more empowered.  All based on understanding that no one needs Part No. 4389177.  What they really need is to get their ice maker working as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Which got me thinking about whether or not the rest of us have really figured out the potential of YouTube and the power of making customers smarter and more capable.  And here's a sample on replacing a dishwasher circulation motor and pump that might merit Oscar consideration in the category of Best Short Feature on Appliance Repair…

We win in business and in life when we give those we serve the tools to stretch, grow, and at times even take care of themselves.  It's a business model worth thinking about in these challenging times.

Cheers!