I was driving to the airport last night to pick up a friend, and it was raining. OK, in Seattle rain is not usually so unusual, but it’s been a while since we had a serious rain (vs. the light mist an ex-boyfriend of mine once called “dry rain,” in trying to persuade me of Seattle’s merits long, long before I moved here).

So I was reminded that the wipers on my relatively new car…yes, a Subaru Forester…go just a LITTLE too fast for my liking. And then I remembered that the intermittent setting can be adjusted (yes, people, it really hasn’t rained in a while). And voila, my desires were met. It got me thinking about how pervasive customization has become, and I wondered how much more customization there would be on a luxury car, and what has by now become standard customization, which is not so much an oxymoron as a reality.

I pulled into the Cell Phone Waiting Lot (rest assured, that perplexing moniker will be the topic of a future post, but in the meantime do know that it is not a lot full of cell phones, waiting). On my handy iPhone, I opened an e-mail newsletter from friend and fellow consultant Lindsay Pedersen to see what wise things she had to say.

She in fact had many wise things to say about…customization. Lindsay and I have had some telepathy moments before, but this was truly impressive. And she is truly impressive. I encourage you to read her white paper, Delighting Your Customer Through Smart Products. Her solid experience in consumer packaged goods and consumer research shine through and she has some important messages for folks who don’t think their products or services need customization.

Thanks for the food for thought, Lindsay.

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