SQUEEZE THE CHALLENGE FURTHER

You can almost always squeeze more out of a challenge. Once you have asked the key questions, go one step further—ask “How else?” and “What else?” That’s how one company not only distinguished itself from its competitors, but forged to the head of the pack.

You’ve probably heard of O .M. Scott & Co . It’s a leader in lawn-care products, specializing in seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, and related items . Only  a few years ago the company didn’t amount to much more than a fly buzzing about the heads of corporate giants such as Sears Roebuck and Co . and Dow Chemical . While people liked Scott’s products, they didn’t consider them any better than those of their competitors.

The challenge for Scott was to improve its market share. But how to  do this? After generating several problem statements, eventually the company settled on one: “In what ways might we differentiate our products from the others?”

This was tougher than it may appear. Why? Because in general, all lawncare products are similar . At that time every company insisted its products were “scientific” and gave long, detailed instructions to users on how  the product should be applied, given certain soil conditions and temperatures .

The result? Customers came away convinced that proper lawn care is difficult and depends on precise, inflexible practices dictated by science.

When Scott’s sales force asked the public how the company might grab a competitive advantage in the marketplace, what kept coming up was customer frustration with lawncare methods .

So Scott brainstormed ways  to alleviate the frustration . As a result, the company’s problem statement changed to, “In what ways might we alleviate customer frustrations with planting?”

By asking “How else?” and “What else?” Scott developed ideas ranging from more friendly directions to gardening classes for customers . Then came the idea that made millions: a simple, mechanical contraption called the Scott Spreader . This small, lightweight wheel-barrow features holes at the bottom that can be set to allow the proper quantities of Scott’s products to  pass through in an even flow . Before the Scott Spreader, no lawncare supplier had given its customers a tool to control the process . Scott designed its product line around the Spreader, and overnight this small seed retailer became the market leader in lawncare.

That’s what can happen when you squeeze a challenge just a bit further .