What Driverless Cars Have to Teach Us about Success

                        What Driverless Cars Have to Teach Us about Success

In 2011 two top engineers from Google traveled to Detroit hoping to create a partnership to carry their project called Chauffeur. They had developed a car that could drive itself on a variety of 100-mile trips on public roads, and they needed a partner. It turned out that none of the big car manufacturers in Detroit were interested in the concept.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the main reason the car companies were not interested in the new technology was that they mistakenly believed that their business was manufacturing and selling cars. “They failed to realize that they were really in the business of helping people get from one place to another.”*

Many small and mid-size businesses fall into a similarly limiting mindset, focusing on what they do or how they do it rather than the benefits and results for those they are doing it for. Most customers don’t care about what you do and how you do it; they care about the benefits and results they receive when they purchase your product or service.

Fast forward to today: Detroit is spending billions on self-driving technology, and we are constantly hearing about it in the news.

Don’t make the same mistake Detroit’s big automakers made. If you want ongoing success for your business, learn to stop talking about what you do and how you do it and focus on the benefits and results of what you do. What’s in it for your client or customer? How is your product or service going to add value and benefit them? That shift in mindset makes all the difference. It will allow your business to keep moving into the future.

If you want to drive revenue growth and achieve greater success, call or email us (503-312-3145; garyfurr@garyfurrconsulting.com). We are experts in business growth.

* Lawrence D. Burns, “Late to the Driverless Revolution,” Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2018.