What Dinosaurs, Borders and the Traditional Marketing and Sales Models Have In Common 

We recently learned that Borders has sold off the last of its inventory and assets and essentially is no more. I'm sure you can find lots of analysts who will give lots of reasons why they failed. But it really comes down to three simple lessons we could have learned from the dinosaurs. 

1. Climate change. For the dinosaurs, a major change in their environment resulted in food scarcity, extreme temperatures and made life in general more difficult. What was the climate change for Borders (and 99.9% of businesses today)? Economic climate. What is now being touted as the "New Economy" is more like a global market correction. Or as I like to think of it, an evolved economy. This does not mean it's the end – but it is a new beginning. One to which Borders (and the dinosaurs) were unable (or unwilling) to adapt. Change is constant. Get used to it or become extinct. Rather than adjust to the changes, Borders essentially ignored them, like a dinosaur. 
2. Poor pack leadership. Now in the case of the dinosaurs, many of them traveled in herds or packs – safety in numbers. If you have ever watched the Discovery channel, I'm sure you have come across those shows that talk about the “alphas,” the pack leaders. It’s the alphas’ job to lead the pack safely through whatever obstacles may come their way. In the case of Borders, it was the job of management alphas to see the changes coming and come up with solutions and adjustments. They didn't, so they led their pack to extinction.  
3. Changing food sources. The Internet has changed the way people buy. Unfortunately, many businesses have not changed the way they sell. Businesses today are like the meat-eating dinosaurs whose food sources changed millions of years ago. Migration patterns changed, and their prey could not be found in the same places as before. Why did those migrations patterns change? Because climate change meant that the prey’s food, the vegetation, couldn’t grow in the same places as before. When plant eaters couldn't get food in the same places, they moved their packs. Businesses that don’t move with their customers will become extinct, just like the meat-eating dinosaurs that didn’t move with their prey. 

None of this is probably a revelation. In fact, it’s a concept you can learn from high school economics.  

Ok, so how could the dinosaurs (in theory of course) have saved themselves from extinction? And what does that have to do with inbound marketing and business today? 

Who said that the dinosaurs are extinct anyway?

In truth, they are not. Some survived, rebounded and even flourished. How? They changed – dramatically in some cases. Did it happen overnight? Only if you consider 150 million years to be overnight.

My point? Change is hard, scary and usually uncomfortable. For businesses today, inbound marketing and sales is the catalyst for change that will help businesses to survive, and in many cases flourish. So whether Facebook or Google is king, the next Twitter emerges, or the NASDAQ drops 100 more points,  your business can evolve. Like the dinosaurs you can see today. 

We Live For Change

You can lessen the hard and scary part of change. Check out our 12-step program, or ask us for help. We live for change.