This article concludes our three-part review of Malcolm Gladwells The Tipping Point. As mentioned before, Gladwell is a journalist, not an employee of an ad agency or member of a large corporate marketing department. But, the ideas presented in The Tipping Point are extremely relevant to the small business owner looking for an edge over her competition.

Gladwells third factor influencing a tipping point is The Power of Context. The idea that the environment surrounding us heavily influences emotions and individual behavior is at the heart of this section of the book. A key theme for small business owners then is the importance of the details in their business.

Of all the different premises put forth in this book, this one is perhaps the most disturbing to our traditional ideas of what makes humans behave as they do. Gladwell demonstrates that in many instances the environment is a much more important element in influencing immediate behavior than we typically like to think it is. He describes people as being more than just sensitive to changes in context. We are exquisitely sensitive to them. (p. 140)

The lesson for the small business owner is simple and yet far from easy: surround your customers with an environment that is most conducive to their buying from you. Easier said than done, of course; but if Gladwell is remotely correct, then we have a chance to influence our customers behavior by altering small things in the environment.

The balance of The Tipping Point is filled with case studies that support Gladwells theory that much of human social behavior mirrors the way epidemics move through a population. For those of you who run a small business that is growing, he also offers some insight into the size limits of an effective working group. Once the number of people in a group exceeds 150 group communication becomes less efficient and tends to break down. This isnt so much a function of the marketing side, but it is interesting from the operations side of business.

The Tipping Point is one of those deep-well books you can turn back to again and again and still draw fresh ideas from. Gladwells style is true to his journalism background. He doesnt supply a clear-cut roadmap or a how to for small business owners. Rather, his method supplies that gentle finger pointing toward further action on our part. This is a book that can--and should--sit on your reference shelf for years, helping you guide your small business as it grows and changes. We recommend you buy it yet this year.

Remember: Brand (who you are) + Package (your Face to the Customer) + People (customers and employees) = Marketing Success.

2006 Marketing Hawks