Lousy beer. Rude service. Welcome!

Having just finished What Clients Love by Harry Beckwith (his sequel to the popular Selling the Invisible), I’d like to list a couple of quotes which resonated with me.

“World-class, leading-edge, ISO900 certified, superior quality, cost-effective, commitment to excellence, proactive—no one believes them anymore. Everyone knows of several companies that proclaimed they were world-class right up to the morning their lawyers first trudged into bankruptcy court.

“Overused words do not work. Instead of relying on words at all, offer evidence. Offer the compelling stories—the case studies, awards, business growth, achievements—that make those adjectives unnecessary. […]

“And examine this cliché, “a commitment to excellence.” If the firm had achieved excellence, it would say that. So “a commitment of excellence” actually implies, “We aren’t there yet.” Not compelling. […]

“When you overstate, readers will instantly be on guard, and everything that has preceded your overstatement as well as everything that follows will be suspect in their minds because they have lost confidence in your judgment or poise… A single carefree superlative has the power to destroy, for readers, the object of your enthusiasm.”

I could dig out a lot more quotes, but you get the point. Companies that operate their sunshine pump on naïve people are prime candidates for Dilbert’s Missions Statement Generator. And it’s always funny to see them beat themselves in the chest proclaiming how great they are.

Here’s a real-life example. On the corner of Lexington and 40-something street in Manhattan, there’s a bar of some kind with this sign by the entrance (quoting from memory): “Lousy beer. Rude service. Welcome!” That’s how you do it! This works. Business-as-usual doesn’t.

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