What I learned from Light Reading's Big Telecom Event (BTE) 2015

I recently attended Light Reading’s Big Telecom Event (BTE) 2015 in Chicago.

Organizations, large or small, all agreed that we should stop running alone and start innovating together in this uncertain and ever changing Telecom world. IBM, for example, is building a cloud-based open platform designed to allow clients and ecosystem partners build Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and will invest $3 billion over the next four years to establish a new IoT unit.

What impressed me the most was the Women in Tech breakfast champions. In an industry inundated with men, we often joke that technology trade shows like BTE are the few places where you won’t see women line up at the washroom. Light Reading’s invited influential women leaders in the technology field to share their personal experiences and success stories.

One of the common attributes that those successful women all share is the positive attitude. Jennifer Perron-Micek, Senior Director, Products & Innovation, US Cellular pointed out that women have natural-born skills that men often don’t possess, such as being talented at building relationships, and that we can harness theses attributes to be successful and get ahead. Karen Freitag, President, Sprint Enterprise Solutions thought that women have greater opportunities than ever before, and that women need to change their perspective and not let the extra responsibilities that we take on hold us back.

Chicago CIO Brenna Berman shared her favourite quotes. She’s a strong believer in taking unexpected opportunities and working hard - a winning combo.

"Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity."

- Seneca the Younger

"Luck to me is... Hard work and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't."

- Lucille Ball

Everybody will always face different challenges in our personal and work life. Be true to ourselves is very important. Don’t try to be something we aren’t. What we bring to the table is so valuable. Don’t lose that.

How to beat the new competitors

I attended a marketing conference organized by the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA)  recently. One of the topics that attracted me specifically was how to beat the new competitors.

Here is a case study used at the conference:

Silver Circle, a family run restaurant has been around for over 80 years. When Mr. Miller took it over from his father, the restaurant was facing fierce competition. In recent years, many new competitors, including bars, clubs and restaurants had been built in the neighbourhood adorned with luxurious decor and fancy names. In comparison, the Silver Circle seemed old fashioned and couldn’t attract new customers, although the food was known to be delicious, the customer service great and the price very reasonable. What suggestions would you make to Mr. Miller in order to change the situation?

Mr. Miller hired a marketing agency that suggested that he change the restaurant name from Silver Circle to Five Circles. A special part of the marketing strategy was the logo design. The agency emphasized that the logo should be six large circles instead of five circles.  After Mr. Miller changed the name and the logo of the restaurant, magic happened. The passers-by started to notice there was a mistake in the logo and stood in long lines to get into the restaurant. Mr. Miller felt really embarrassed when a lot of customers pointed out the mistake to the waiters/waitresses.

It’s interesting that after pointing out the mistake, people felt satisfied that their observation skills were rewarded. They started to pay attention to the amiable environment, polite service and tasty food. Many new customers told Mr. Miller that they hadn’t previously noticed his great restaurant.  Since then, the Five Circles restaurant has become very famous and attracted people from other towns. When Mr. Miller asked the agency why the marketing strategy had worked, they told him that looking for mistakes is one of people’s favourite activities. People who found the mistake, pointed it out and enjoyed a meal had a triple dose of satisfaction.

The agency taught Mr. Miller the value of understanding human behaviour, which is critical to being able to compete. Finding ways of competing that go beyond providing a good product or service are already separating winners from losers. Future commercial competition will be driven by this kind of differentiator.