Ways to distinguish yourself #148 – Invest in your future clients

Last week when I picked up Sumukh (my seven year old son) from school, he had two forms in his hand. He said “Dad, can we please go to Barnes and Noble?” I love books so I was anyway ready to go there but I was curious to know why Sumukh wanted to go there on that particular day. That’s when I learned about this Summer Reading Program from Barnes and Noble. It is an interesting program. The concept is simple.

* Any kid can participate in the program


* Participating kid has to read about eight books (any books)

* Participating kid has to fill out a journal entry where the name of the book, author and the part that the kid liked most needs to be filled in.

* Parent/Guardian of the participating kid has to sign stating that the kid has read those books

* Participating kid has to take this journal to the nearest Barnes and Noble store to get a brand new book (from a selection of about 25 books)

Long story short. We both went to a nearby Barnes and Noble store. He got his free books. I couldn’t resist buying a book. While coming back from there Sumukh said he wants to finish reading a few more books next week so that he can get to do this exercise again. I couldn’t resist silently appreciating the smartness of Barnes and Noble. Very simply, the company was investing in its future customers.

We are no different. It is not difficult to see the relevance of this in our own lives. Imagine your life five or ten years from now. Would you be doing the same thing you are doing then? Probably not. You would be in a different position doing very different things – meaning you would have different clients. Think about it for a second. Are you investing any amount of your time (in a planned manner) in growing them?

What actions can you take today to find, connect and nurture your future clients? Do you see that you are really investing in your future competitive advantage by investing in your future clients?

Good luck!

Note: For other articles in the same series, please visit my Squidoo lens on the same topic.
Link: Squidoo Lens: Distinguish Yourself