Remember the classic Seinfeld episode with the “Soup Nazi”? He ran a soup shop that sold amazing soups, and if you didn’t order exactly the way he wanted, he would simply say, “No soup for you,” and you were banned from his shop. That’s not exactly the type of personalized service we usually recommend.
We write often about personalizing your business. It’s right in the Rules of Attraction, “Who you are is more important than what you do.” With today’s fast-paced business landscape, a personal connection is critical in appealing to potential customers. You can often dramatically increase your profitability byadding a personal touch. Customers and clients gladly pay more for personalized service, even if you’re in a commodity business…most of the time.
We recently participated in the C-Suite Briefing with Morrie Shechtman of Fifth Wave Leadership. The event was videotaped, and we put together a DVD with the presentations of Mark Deo and Morrie Shechtman. In looking for a duplication company to make copies of this DVD, I found that most had tiered pricing models, plenty of options, and value added services that were included. Most companies I’d need to call and discuss all these options just to get a quote on my project. I’m savvy enough with media duplication to where I not only didn’t need these features, I didn’t want them. Personal service in this instance was more of a hassle for me than a convenience.
Enter Kunaki.com. This site offers media duplication, though not the way most companies do. You have two options- CDs or DVDs. That’s it. There’s no selection of pages on inserts, no slim line vs. standard cases, no custom cover design. There’s also no customer service, and no phone number you can call. They even state on their website, “Kunaki does not wish to be viewed as a company. Kunaki prefers to be viewed as a machine.” Even their pricing model reflects this- you pay a flat fee per disc that is the same regardless of the number of discs you order. You can order just one disc, a few, or even hundreds and pay the same price.
In this case, de-personalizing the business is exactly what appealed to me. I downloaded their software, designed my case and disc label to their specifications, and placed my order. It took LESS time for me to do this than to deal with a designer, or even review the choices that other companies have to offer. I found the Soup Nazi of DVD duplication. If I didn’t want to order the way they liked, well, no DVDs for me.
I plan on using Kunaki for any client projects that requires media duplication. In fact, according to their website I believe we’re already business partners. “Prospective business partners can use Kunaki as they would use any machine. If your planned activities makes sense to you, Kunaki suggests you simply do it. Kunaki is not actively interested in your plans and activities.”
Like everything in life, there are no rules that work 100% of the time. If you’re dealing with a customer base that ONLY looks at price, and isn’t concerned about lots of choice in your products, de-personalizing your business can help you get an advantage over your competitors, while dramatically cutting costs.
This Business Update was written by SBA Network Business Advisor Matt Walker- for more information, please contact him at mwalker@sbanetwork.org. If you’re interested in seeing the C-Suite Briefing and weren’t able to attend, send Matt an e-mail for details on how to get a DVD of the event.