Tom Peters

My Broker, My Partner: Toward

Practice ExcellenceLPL Financial Services/San Diego/08.11.2003

Slides at …

tompeters.com

1. Diagnosis: Perpetual

White Water.

“Uncertainty is the only thing to be sure of. –Anthony Muh,head of investment in Asia, Citigroup Asset Management

“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like

irrelevance even less.” —General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff,

U. S. Army

Implication: Advisor far more than “fine

fellow”

2. Me Too = No-No.

“While everything may

be better, it is also increasingly the same.”

Paul Goldberger on retail, “The Sameness of Things,” The New York Times

“This is a dying business. Everybody’s going after the same

writers, the same concepts, the same

audience.” — Network TV exec, to Fortune

“Customers will try ‘low cost

providers’ … because the Majors have not

given them any clear reason not to.”

Leading Insurance Industry Analyst

“The ‘surplus society’ has a surplus of

similar companies, employing

similar people, with similar educational backgrounds, coming up

with similar ideas, producing

similar things, with similar prices

and similar quality.”

Kjell Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle, Funky Business

Implication: What’s your [CLEAR] Point-of-

Distinction?

3. The New Value-Added

Revolution: Encompassing

Services.

Gerstner’s IBM: Systems Integrator of

choice. Global Services:

$35B. Pledge/’99: Business Partner Charter. 72 strategic partners,

aim for 200. Drop many in-house

programs/products. (BW/12.01).

Nardelli’s goal ($50B to $100B by 2005):

“… move Home Depot beyond selling ‘goods’ to selling ‘home services.’ …

He wants to capture home improvement dollars wherever and

however they are spent.” E.g.: “house calls” (At-Home Service: $10B by ’05?) … “pros shops” (Pro Set) … “home project management”

(Project Management System … “a deeper selling relationship”).

Source: USA Today/06.14.2002

Omnicom: 57% (of

$6B) from marketing services

“ ‘Architecture’ is becoming a commodity.

Winners will be ‘Turnkey Facilities Management’

providers.”SMPS Exec

From “Trapper” to “Wildlife Damage-control Professional”

Trapper: <$20 per beaver pelt.

WDCP: $150/“problem beaver”; $750-$1,000 for flood-control

piping … so that beavers can stay.

Source: WSJ/05.21.2002

Implication: What’s your Encompassing

Service Promise?

4. (Way) Beyond “Transactions”: A

World of Scintillating “Experiences.”

“Experiences are as distinct from services as services are from

goods.”Joseph Pine & James Gilmore, The Experience Economy:

Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage

“Club Med is more than just a ‘resort’; it’s a means of rediscovering oneself, of inventing an

entirely new ‘me.’ ”

Source: Jean-Marie Dru, Disruption

Experience: “Rebel Lifestyle!”

“What we sell is the ability for a 43-year-old accountant to dress in black leather, ride

through small towns and have people be afraid of him.”

Harley exec, quoted in Results-Based Leadership

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?

The “Experience Ladder”

Experiences Services

Goods Raw Materials

<TGWvs.

>TGR

Implication: Are you fully conscious of/ managing the

“Experience” you provide?

5. Experiences+: Embracing the

“Dream Business.”

DREAM: “A dream is a complete moment in the life of a client.

Important experiences that tempt the client to commit substantial resources. The essence of the desires of the consumer. The

opportunity to help clients become what they want to be.” —Gian Luigi

Longinotti-Buitoni

The marketing of Dreams (Dreamketing)

Dreamketing: Touching the clients’ dreams.

Dreamketing: The art of telling stories and entertaining.

Dreamketing: Promote the dream, not the product.

Dreamketing: Build the brand around the main dream.

Dreamketing: Build the “buzz,” the “hype,” the “cult.”

Source: Gian Luigi Longinotti-Buitoni

Getting Beyond Lip Service!

“No longer are we only an insurance provider. Today, we also offer our customers the products and services that help them achieve their dreams, whether it’s financial

security, buying a car, paying for home repairs, or even taking a dream

vacation.”—Martin Feinstein, CEO, Farmers Group

“Most executives have no idea how to add value to a market in the metaphysical

world. But that is what the market will cry out for in the future. There is no lack of ‘physical’ products to

choose between.”

Jesper Kunde, A Unique Moment [on the excellence of Nokia, Nike, Lego, Virgin et al.]

Implication: Are you a practicing

metaphysician?

6. “It” all adds up

to … THE BRAND.

“We believe that the rep

should be the brand” —Todd Robinson

Source: Financial Planning/06.02

“WHO ARE YOU?”

“WHAT’S YOUR

STORY?”

“We are in the twilight of a society based on data. As information and intelligence become the domain of computers, society will place more value on the one human ability that cannot be automated: emotion.

Imagination, myth, ritual - the language of emotion - will affect everything from our purchasing decisions

to how we work with others. Companies will thrive on the basis of their stories and myths. Companies will need to understand

that their products are less important than their stories.”

Rolf Jensen, Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies

“EXACTLY HOW ARE YOU DRAMATICALLY

DIFFERENT?”

1st Law Mktg Physics: OVERT BENEFIT (Focus: 1 or 2 > 3 or 4/“One Great Thing.” Source #1: Personal Passion)

2ND Law: REAL REASON TO BELIEVE (Stand & Deliver!)

3RD Law: DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE (Execs Don’t Get It.)

Source: Jump Start Your Business Brain, Doug Hall

“EXACTLY HOW DO YOU PASSIONATELY

CONVEY THAT DRAMATIC

DIFFERENCE TO THE CLIENT ?”

Implication: Who [exactly] are you?

The Brand Promise/Dramatic Difference: Trustworthy …

Assiduous [available 24/7] … My partner … A good listener …

Established in the community [but not too established] … Smart-as-the-dickens … Wise … Edgy [but

not too edgy] … Etc.

7. The Mother of All

Trends: Women Roar.

?????????

Home Furnishings … 94%Vacations … 92% (Adventure Travel … 70%/ $55B travel

equipment)

Houses … 91%D.I.Y. (“home projects”) … 80%

Consumer Electronics … 51% Cars … 60% (90%)

All consumer purchases … 83% Bank Account … 89%

Health Care … 80%

2/3rds working women/50+% working wives > 50%

80% checks61% bills

53% stock (mutual fund boom)

43% > $500K95% financial decisions/

29% single handed

1970-1998

Men’s median income: +0.6%Women’s median income: + 63%

Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women

Women-owned Bus.

U.S. employees > F500 employees worldwide

Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women

91% women: ADVERTISERS DON’T

UNDERSTAND US. (58% “ANNOYED.”)

Source: Greenfield Online for Arnold’s Women’s Insight Team (Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women)

Carol Gilligan/ In a Different Voice

Men: Get away from authority, familyWomen: Connect

Men: Self-orientedWomen: Other-oriented

Men: RightsWomen: Responsibilities

FemaleThink/ Popcorn

“Men and women don’t think the same way, don’t communicate the same

way, don’t buy for the same reasons.”

“He simply wants the transaction to take place. She’s interested in

creating a relationship. Every place women go, they make

connections.”

“Women speak and hear a language of connection and intimacy, and men

speak and hear a language of status and independence. Men communicate to obtain information, establish their

status, and show independence. Women communicate to create

relationships, encourage interaction, and exchange feelings.”

Judy Rosener, America’s Competitive Secret

“When a woman is upset, she talks emotionally to her friends; but an upset man rebuilds a motor or

fixes a leaking tap.”Barbara & Allan Pease, Why Men Don’t Listen &

Women Can’t Read Maps

Editorial/Men: Tables, rankings.*

Editorial/Women: Narratives that cohere.*

*Redwood (UK)

Initiate Purchase

Men: Study “facts & features.”

Women: Ask lots of people for input.

Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women

Women's View of Male Salespeople

Technically knowledgeable; assertive; get to the point; pushy;

condescending; insensitive to women’s needs.

Source: Judith Tingley, How to Sell to the Opposite Sex (Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women)

Women and Financial Advisors

Women want ...— a plan

— to be listened to— to read about it and think about it

Women do not want ...— a high-pressure sales pitch

Source: Kathleen Boyd, SVP, Wheat First Butcher Singer (now part of Wachovia

Securities)

Cents & Sensibility

“Our advisory sessions [with women] changed from a purely

analytical, male approach to something that starts with the heart

and ends with the figures.”

Read This Book …

EVEolution: The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women

Faith Popcorn & Lys Marigold

EVEolution: Truth No. 1

Connecting Your Female Consumers to Each

Other Connects Them to Your Brand

“The ‘Connection Proclivity’ in women starts early. When asked,

‘How was school today?’ a girl usually tells her mother every

detail of what happened, while a boy might grunt, ‘Fine.’ ”

EVEolution

“Women don’t buy

brands. They join them.”

EVEolution

2.6 vs. 21

Purchasing Patterns

Women: Harder to convince; more loyal once convinced.

Men: Snap decision; fickle.

Source: Martha Barletta, Marketing to Women

1. Men and women are different.2. Very different.3. VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.4. Women & Men have a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y nothing in common.5. Women buy lotsa stuff.6. WOMEN BUY A-L-L THE STUFF.7. Women’s Market = Opportunity No. 1.8. Men are (STILL) in charge.9. MEN ARE … TOTALLY, HOPELESSLY CLUELESS ABOUT WOMEN.10. Women’s Market = Opportunity No. 1.

Implication: Sooooo?

8. Building a Noteworthy Practice:

The Leadership Imperative

“A key – perhaps the key – to leadership is the effective

communication of a story.”

Howard Gardner Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership

G.H.: “Create a ‘cause,’ not a ‘business.’ ”

“It was much later that I realized Dad’s secret. He gained respect by giving it. He

talked and listened to the fourth-grade kids in Spring Valley who shined shoes the same way he talked and listened to a

bishop or a college president. He was seriously interested in who you were and what you had to say.”

Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect

Talent = Brand

Les Wexner: From sweaters to people!

T.A.: 3

“You must be the change you

wish to see in the world.”

Gandhi

“Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of questions. And the

first question for a leader always is: ‘Who do we

intend to be?’ Not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do

we intend to be?’” —Max DePree, Herman Miller