When we got out current Outback three years ago, we picked it up just as snow started to fall. We were getting one of those great snow storms that I love to drive in. So, we took a drive up into Paramus and route 17, where all the car dealers are located. The snow was a few inches deep and, as is the case when we get snow in New Jersey, there were lots of cars stopped on the side of the road stuck.
Lots of the stores were closing early and employees were heading home. That made sense for most companies along route 17, but one struck me as strange. The Land Rover dealership. I mean, why should they have to go home early because of snow. It's a car that can drive Mt Kilimanjaro and it can't drive in a few inches of snow on a flat road like 17?
I'm guessing that the reason the employees had to leave early is because most of them don't own or drive a Land Rover. And I know that's a pretty big challenge for a company like Land Rover, making sure all of their employees actually use their product.
But I also thought that someone at the dealership should've been smart enough to realize that lots of folks were stuck on the street in the snow. They should've filled up one of those big coffee urns, put it in a Land Rover and then delivered coffee to all of the people stranded along the road. It would bring the Land Rover message to life.
Telling is easy. Showing is much harder. Do you look for ways to show instead of tell every day? You'd be surprised at the impact that you can have when you change from tell to show.