I shop at the grocery store near the Border’s (a large book store for those of you outside the U.S.) and the Cost World Plus (foreign stuff).My wife shops at the grocery store near the Target (high-end Wal-Mart for those of you still outside the U.S.) and Starbuck’s (no explanation needed, I suspect). Of course, they are both the same grocery store, and we each understand what the other means when we give each other directions and reference points, but it does highlight the issue that everyone considers the same thing in different contexts. As we think about our customer relationships, what is the mental image you call to mind, and what is the image you think your customers call to mind? Just as each customer segment you define considers you in comparison to a different set of direct competitors, I suspect each segment also thinks of you in the context of different noncompetitors.

Here is a thought experiment. Write down a letter of the alphabet, then write down the two letters on either side (e.g. starting with “R” gives you “P,” “Q,” “S” and “T”). Then write down five companies or organizations starting with those letters, pick from a variety of different industries and then consider what a customer who thinks of your company in the context of each of those organizations might think. What would they expect? What would they wonder about why you don’t provide it? Personally, I wish my book store would have little crib guides (like the menus available in grocery stores) that gave a reading list of good movie and book tie-ins, or a good selection of music to read with a particular book. I wish my grocery store would do the same thing as my hardware store and run how-to clinics on prepping vegetables. Please share with others anything you come up with that you think one industry could learn from another.