Seth Godin reinforced a conversation that has been circulating in the arts world with greater vigor over the last five-six years —people have so many options these days you need to distinguish yourself and your value.
People don’t need to enter your business, or even interact with a person, to get their direct need satisfied which is why arts orgs need to emphasize all the ways in which they solve other problems people face.
Ruth Hartt advocates for employing this approach both in the way organizations market themselves and in the organizational culture they create to reinforce this in every plan and public interaction.
Godin writes:
Good, fast and cheap used to be the goals of a typical small business. Today, there’s probably a giant, heartless competitor who is gooder, faster and cheaper than you.
The way forward is simple: Be worth the trip. Be worth the price.
“You can pick anyone, and we’re anyone” isn’t going to be helpful going forward. Be someone instead.
While people may not need to enter your physical space or interact with your staff to acquire what they need, one practice that is likely to become valued is having someone with whom they can interact. As much conversation as there is about AI being the way of the future, there seems to be increasing recognition that the available tools are not meeting our expectations.
There is currently a competitive advantage in saving people from depending on some of the information delivered by web searches.
