UnSelling: The New Customer Experience

Chapter 57Up the Customer Creek

In the world of social media, things move fast. Tweets have a shelf-life of no more than a few moments, and videos popular today are quickly replaced by the next big thing tomorrow. Immediacy is a critical component for companies managing online conversations about brands. As customers we want and expect things quickly—our replies, our products, and our Amazon orders.

The same is true in business, especially when you work in marketing and technology. The focus is always on new start-ups and Kickstarter campaigns. We jump ahead to what's next before we ever fix what's now. Patience seems to be going the way of the CD and the newspaper, a relic we tell our kids we used to have.

That's why when I heard the story of Forty Creek Whisky I knew it was special. John Hall was a winemaker who grew up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. When he was a kid, there were two possibilities for future jobs: working in the automotive industry or working at the Hiram Walker Distillery. Cars weren't his thing, but after graduating with a degree in food chemistry, he was turned down by the distillery. He decided to follow his passion and went to work for a winery in the Niagara region, where he stayed, moving up the ladder until 1992, when he left to start his own company. He found a small distillery in Grimsby, Ontario, purchased the property, and followed his dream of making his own brand of Canadian Whisky.

Now, unlike many of today's products, whisky takes time and lots ...