Linchpins, Backpacks + Remarkability

Guest post by @terryeva, a solutions architect for AOL and a social media enthusiast.

I recently finished reading Seth Godin’s book Linchpin. A simple Google search will return many reviews of the book. Instead of writing another review, I want to highlight a few key points from the book and talk about a recent experience I had with a linchpin.

What is a linchpin? A linchpin is the sixty-nine cent piece of hardware that holds the wheel onto a wagon.  Mr. Godin uses linchpin as a metaphor for essential individuals, or corporations, who would be hard to replace.

Linchpins do not strive to be good nor do they strive to be perfect. Good products or services are easily copied which becomes market competition. Perfect means there is no room for innovation or improvements. Linchpins, instead, strive to be remarkable.  As Mr. Godin points out, no one crosses a street to buy a good product or service.  No one becomes loyal to a good product or service.  Remarkable products and services are the game changing products or services consumers become loyal to and cross the street to buy.

Last Saturday, I decided to start buying camping and hiking equipment. The last time I backpacked was twenty years ago while serving in US Army. The technology has changed since and I knew I needed help selecting the correct equipment for me.

I started my search visiting local sport stores but there wasn’t anything remarkable about the stores and they certainly were not perfect. I would venture to say that one could easily find average products for an average price. None of the sales associates bothered to ask if I needed assistance. I failed to find anything remarkable.

I finally decided to Google some of the products to see if I could find information to make a rational decision. When I failed to find any useful information, I used Google to locate other stores in my area.

Google led me to Eastern Mountain Sports in the Dulles Retail Plaza. The minute I walked into the store, I knew something was different. The store was clean and uncluttered unlike many of the other sporting good stores I had visited. The logically-arranged products made finding what I wanted to purchase easy. The sales associates actively engaged customers.

Corey, the sales associate that assisted me was remarkable. He not only knew the product line but he also knew how the products should fit and assisted me in finding a remarkable backpack. He took the time to ensure that even after adding weight the backpack fit correctly. Corey never gave me the impression he was in a hurry. He patiently answered my questions on a number of products. As the store became busy, Corey called for assistance for the other customers and never lost his focus on me.

I was short on time and decided to purchase the backpack in the moment. I would purchase the rest of the gear later. The friendly remarkable service continued through the checkout process and continued until I left the store. Eastern Mountain Sports now has a loyal customer thanks to remarkable sales associates and a store.

If individuals or corporations do not innovate and become remarkable, those that are remarkable will easily replace them. Why would anyone want to work for average corporations? Why would corporations hire average people? Have you experienced linchpin individuals or businesses? If so, tell me about them in the comments. What are you doing to become a linchpin? What are you doing to become indispensable?

R2D2 Backpack Photo Credit: Sam Howzit