The #1 Thing Every Sales & Marketing Team Needs To Understand This Year (2018)

Which companies are dominating the conversation today? Think of the everyday brands you’ve interacted with, and compare them to their competitors – and the companies they’ve put out of business.

Amazon and Borders. Netflix and Blockbuster. Airbnb and any hotel chain. Uber and any cab company.

Who are the winners in those matchups? The Amazons, Netflixes, Airbnbs and Ubers of the world. In other words, whoever gets closest to the customer wins.

Well, that’s half-true. Because while they are the ones closest to the customer, that’s not the only reason why they’ve got their hands on the wheel and their competitors don’t.

Shifting Away From A World With Limited Supply

If you run down that list of brands, you’ll see it’s not just proximity to the customer that defines them.

It’s the shift from supply to demand, and how they have a handle on that, that really makes the difference.

So, what do I mean by that? Well, we all know the basic supply-and-demand rule of how markets work. We also know, until not too long ago, that the most successful brands were the ones who controlled both sides of the equation.

Look at a chain like Walmart, which sought to gain control over every stage of the product lifecycle, from the warehouse to the store to the customer making the final purchase. Or, Gillette, which owned every part of the lifecycle for their razor blades: they controlled the design for the blade (which, as far as anyone was concerned, was THE razor blade), they controlled the fulfillment centers and they controlled the relationships with stores like CVS and Costco where customers could buy these razors.

In both of these examples, the brand not just owns the supply, but leverages that ownership to control the demand.

But, today, that idea has been completely flipped on its head.

A New Demand-Focused Mindset

Value in today’s competitive landscape doesn’t come from companies owning the supply; it comes from owning the demand. Why?

Because today, in a world of infinite supply, customers have all the power.

Think about how you buy – you Google it, ask your friends, read reviews on G2 Crowd. You rarely talk to someone at the company first. You have all the power as a buyer because information is free now. Enter: infinite supply.

Look back at that list of brands at the top of the page. Hotel chains may own the supply of vacancies, but Airbnb controls the demand. Cab companies own the supply of cars, but ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft dictate the demand. With Amazon, you’re talking about a company where 50 percent of their inventory comes from third-party sellers. They literally don’t own half of what you can buy on their marketplace, and yet Amazon controls the demand for that inventory.

We’ve shifted from a supplier’s world – where supply is limited and the suppliers govern demand – to a world of infinite supply where, consequently, buyers have the power.

Taking A Cue From Apple For 10X Growth

Apple is a great example for a lot of best practices in business, but one area where they absolutely shine is in leveraging the power of demand in an infinite supply landscape.

Think about every time Apple launches a new iPhone. The day it goes on sale, there are lines of customers going around the block to get it. And, this happens every year. That’s not because there’s a very limited quantity of iPhones that are first-come, first-serve; that’s because they’ve stoked the demand for it perfectly.

The way that the Apple Store operates is a great example of this, too. They look, sound and feel like no other store; you won’t confuse it with anything else. And, part of that appeal is because the Apple Stores are built not just with the customer in mind, but are built totally around the customer. As former Apple executive Ron Jonson put it, the “stores create an ownership experience for the customer.” It’s tailored around not just the customer’s wants and needs (their demand, if you will), but their life experience.

It’s easier than ever today to start a company or build a product; that’s why there’s so much more supply to choose from now. But, that means companies can’t win on features alone. They need to master a trifecta of cultivating a great product, a strong brand and a compelling customer experience. That’s what Apple has done, and that’s why the demand for Apple products and services is constantly off the charts.

With infinite supply today, customers have all the power. You can’t make someone jump through hoops to talk to your business or make it difficult for them to buy anymore. You have to meet them on their terms. That’s the only way you’re going to scale your business to 10x growth in a world of infinite supply.

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How is your company navigating this shift from supply to demand? How do you interact with your customers? What’s your pathway to 10x growth?

I’d love to hear some of your stories – feel free to share them below. And, check out my podcast Seeking Wisdom, where we talk shop about navigating personal and professional growth -- and of course, the shift from Supply to Demand. Subscribe here on iTunes.