It is noon on a Tuesday afternoon and I just got around to driving back to Borders Book Store to find and buy my friend that book I wanted. I finally get to the store, park and walk in. Five people in the store, the store is well lit and the smell of coffee and new books are in the air. I think to myself, “this is an experience that Amazon will have a hard time replicating”. Now, where is the Business Section? Food, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Cooking, Bargain, Religion, History, Poetry, Travel, Wine, Children’s, Music and every other crazy category available. Hmmm, Business is not easy to find. After my fourth lap around the store, I realize that the great big sign marked “Children’s” is really only a word not meant to serve any direction to a single shopper. Business is in the Children’s section…great. Exactly my impression of Borders at this point – Children.

Now I begin to look for Seth Godin’s book, Tribes (a great, quick read). Ok. Seth is a marketing guy. Let’s find marketing, got it. There is exactly one book from Seth that was originally released in 2005. Good book but not Tribes. Interesting that the marketing guru has one book in the Marketing section? Ok. Small Business, let’s try that. Good, two more books from Seth but none of them are Tribes. How about Management, let’s try that. One more book from Seth that is not Tribes. At this point I begin to panic, I have now driven, parked, walked, done laps around the store, invested my valuable time and there is no sign of Tribes. Wait! One last hope – LEADERSHIP! Yes, I find Tribes in the LEADERSHIP section. To the register I go with my gift card and Tribes in hand. Ugh, no one is there. Ah, there is the tee shirt wearing cashier hiding behind the 600 calendar choices…it is half way through the year…who needs a calendar at this point anyways? He rings me up and $21.94 is the total. Crud, my gift card is for $20.00. I pay the extra and I am on my way. 58 minutes later I am back at my desk. That was an experience, one that I will not repeat anytime soon. Amazon time to order, 47 seconds and $8.37 cheaper.

Here is the point. Amazon is a Leader. They have a better experience (sans the coffee and book smell). They are open 24×7. They are cheaper. They are faster. How long do you have before your competition becomes the Leader? Are you becoming faster? Are you always open? How is the experience of doing business with you? You may be the leader today but what about tomorrow? Are you innovating and challenging the status quo? Borders is status quo and will be out of business in 10 years. We need leaders.