Present in the rolling cavalcade among the players, coaches, and front-office execs were Barry and Eliot Tatelman. Who? Anyone who owns a television in the northeastern U.S. knows that these brothers are the owners of local furniture retailer Jordan's Furniture. What does any of this have to do with Smart Services? Let me explain...
Back in the Spring, Barry and Eliot ran a promotion that entitled anyone who bought furniture before tax day to a full refund... if and only if the Red Sox won the World Series. So, on the morning of October 29th, the Tatelman brothers woke up owing a sum of more than $20 million to 35,000 customers. Of course, Jordan's had taken out an insurance policy that would cover their "losses," so no harm done.
As I watched the beaming brothers Tatelman rolling through the confetti blizzard, it struck me that this kind of marketing hubris is exactly what's needed to jumpstart the adoption of Smart Services among many OEMs' customer bases. I've mentioned before that the stakes in the Smart Services game are high and getting higher and the time for OEMs to place their bets is now. I've seen several examples of OEMs willing to take a short term risk by offering Smart Service-enabled support packages at no incremental charge to their customers for a finite period of time. And they're now enjoying the spoils of hearty recurring returns. Smart Services is part of a Horizon 2 business and needs to be run accordingly.
There will be plenty of time to explore this idea further at the upcoming Field Service - Long Cycle Forum 2007 in Atlanta, where I'll be making the presentation, Smart Services: A Game-Changer for Long-Cycle Service Organizations on November 13th. We're also hosting a dinner on November 12th at the nearby Spotted Dog. To reserve your spot on the guest list, just send a note to smartservices@qualcomm.com. Hope to see you in Peachtown!
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