Do you know the #1 quality that makes Amazon an unbeatable competitor? – SCN Encourager

Like most things in life, I found this fact surprising.

It seems Amazon’s founder and driving force Jeff Bezos really does have a competitive ace up his sleeve.

It’s one we could copy… if we only had a large dose of daring swashbuckler in our DNA.

And a small cut from Bezos’ personal $85 billion bankroll wouldn’t hurt, either.

But think about it.

Nearly half of every retail sale that occurs online in the U.S. today involves Amazon.

Mind-boggling.

So the guy must know what he’s doing.

 

Now can you guess the #1 quality that makes Jeff Bezos and Amazon unbeatable?

I tried without success.

Here’s what I tossed out:

•  low prices
•  large selection of products
•  knowing my interests
•  decent packaging
•  order tracking
•  speedy delivery
•  having a “partner” incentives
•  providing a % kickback to non-profits
•  immediate email notifications
•  lots of peer reviews
•  great customer service
•  Amazon Prime membership
•  a quality self-publishing division

It’s too bad none of these make up Amazon’s #1 competitive difference-maker, however.

It would’ve fun to win a prize and brag to you about it.

But nope –

all I can do is pass along what I heard a researcher say in a recent podcast.

He said the #1 quality that makes Jeff Bezos (Amazon) unbeatable is his total “willingness to lose now” in order to “win later.”

The vast majority of leaders and organizations do not have the wherewithal to do this.

Jeff Bezos is comfortable with losing – and is comfortable with it long enough – until eventually (lo and behold!) he finds himself standing all alone in the winner’s circle.

 

 

 

Now tell me.

Would you have guessed the #1 quality supporting Jeff Bezos’ and Amazon’s competitive advantage had to do with “losing” and being strategically comfortable with it?

I sure didn’t.

The whole losing to win thing was never even on my radar.

For you see, whenever I lose something – money, my keys, my scribbles with a big idea, my will to diet, or my hope for the Tigers – I’ll go to the nth degree pretending it never happened!

Which certainly is a pretty crummy response on my part, especially after  you compare my results to those of Bezos.

So given this reality, I wish you a fantastic “lose to win” weekend!

I really do.

But I gotta tell you.

Despite Amazon’s success, I’m still a little uneasy about this entire concept.

So if a “TIE” comes my way on Saturday or Sunday – I’m going to call it good and quit.