Invisible excellence
Last week, I spent a few days motorcycling with some good friends in the beautiful hills of southern Missouri. The Ozarks contain some of the finest riding on the planet — this area is absolutely stuffed with thousands of deliciously sinuous roads.
If you’re not a rider, this next bit may seem odd… What impressed us above all else was the superb pavement. Yes, asphalt and engineering can be beautiful. Every last curve was lovingly designed and contoured, the surface was extremely smooth, grippy, and well-maintained, everything was well-marked, there were generous shoulders even on the tiny letter roads, and the brush was cut well back from the pavement.
Of course, all this infrastructure excellence is totally invisible to the locals — it’s only noticeable by contrast. Riders from Illinois and Indiana couldn’t stop raving about the roads. The people who actually live in Missouri thought we were nuts.
To most people, excellence in financial services is also invisible.
Everything just works. Like electricity and plumbing, you only really notice when there’s a problem, or if you’ve become used to low quality.
Step back and take a look — what are you doing so much better and so smoothly that it’s become invisible? That’s an essential piece of your brand.
How can you tell the poor souls who have only experienced potholes and pain that there really is a place where the grass is greener?
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