NATSO Show Speaker Shares: To Succeed, Be the Only One Who Does What You Do

As an entrepreneur, co-founder of Fast Company magazine and a best selling author, Bill Taylor understands what it takes for business owners to compete. While researching his latest book, Be the Only: Thriving in a World Where Best Isn’t Good Enough, Taylor gained even more insights into what it takes to thrive in today’s competitive market. Taylor will he be sharing his expertise as a keynote speaker at The NATSO Show, and shared a preview of latest findings with NATSO ahead of the event.
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NATSO Show Speaker Shares: To Succeed, Be the Only One Who Does What You Do 

As an entrepreneur, co-founder of Fast Company magazine and a best selling author, Bill Taylor understands what it takes for business owners to compete. While researching his latest book, Be the Only: Thriving in a World Where Best Isn’t Good Enough, Taylor gained even more insights into what it takes to thrive in today’s competitive market. Taylor, who will he be sharing his expertise as a keynote speaker at The NATSO Show, shared a preview of latest findings with NATSO ahead of the event.

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He told NATSO that to succeed, business owners need to uncover the experiences and offerings they provide for their customers that their competitors don’t. Taylor asked, “What are the promises you’re making that only you can make?”

He said, “Fundamentally the job today is no longer trying to be the best at what lots of other people do. It is to be the only one who does what you do. The real opportunity and the real challenge is to admit to yourself that we’re in a world that is more fiercely competitive than ever and your competitors are more competent than ever.”

To gain insight into their competitive strengths, Taylor suggests business owners ask themselves what their customers would miss if the company were to go out of business tomorrow. “In almost any industry there are so many competitors that if company A goes out of business Company B, C and D would be happy to serve their customers. You have to ask yourself, ‘What are we doing that if we stopped doing it our customers would feel that absence?’ That is the beginning of understanding what are the kernels of distinction that make us different and compelling,” he said. 

Taylor added, “Ultimately successful companies today are willing to do what other companies can’t or won’t do.”

To add to the experience, truskstop and travel plaza owners should focus on a personal touch, Taylor said. He explained that in a world with increased focus on technology, anything business leaders can do “to infuse their organization with small gestures, little touches, modest symbols or rituals to show customers that we’re treating them not as a data point as a demographic or market segment, but as a real life flesh and blood human being” holds value and that it is just as important to be kind as it is to be clever.

“We cannot loose sight of the human factor in business and you have to look for opportunities to go the extra mile, so do a little something your customers will give you extra credit for,” Taylor said.

Taylor will expand on these insights and more during his keynote address on Monday, Feb. 22, 2016 at 4:30 p.m. at The NATSO Show. Learn more and register for the conference at www.natsoshow.org.

To read about the ahead-of-the-curve experts planned for The NATSO Show 2016, visit The NATSO Show website here.

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