Aligning Your Mission & Core Values

What does Southwest Airlines, Zappos, Chick Fil A, Nordstrom and Starbucks all have in common? All of these companies have a strong brand and culture that is built around the customer experience. If you review their mission statements, core values and most of their PR you will find references to the employee and customer experience and how it aligns to their product offering. Examples include:

Southwest Airlines - Follow "The Golden Rule," meaning that we treat each other the way we want to be treated, which is why doing the right thing by our Employees and Customers is so inherent to who we are as a Company. We believe in Living the Southwest Way, which is to have a Warrior Spirit, a Servant's Heart, and a Fun-LUVing Attitude.

Zappos - Their 1st core value is "deliver WOW through service". Straight from their website "Customer Service Isn't Just A Department! We've been asked by a lot of people how we've grown so quickly, and the answer is actually really simple... We've aligned the entire organization around one mission: to provide the best customer service possible. Internally, we call this our WOW philosophy."

Chick Fil A - Mission statement "Be America's best quick-service restaurant." Their published purpose is "To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”

Nordstrom "At Nordstrom, our goal is to provide outstanding service every day, one customer at a time." Further focus is provided to Nordstrom employees at all levels with this Nordstrom goal, which is also a management mission... "We Work hard to make decisions in the best interest of our customers and those serving them."

Starbucks - "Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time." To accomplish its mission, Starbucks has principles that guide all of its employees as they go about their daily business including •Our Customers – When we are fully engaged, we connect with, laugh with, and uplift the lives of our customers – even if just for a few moments.

Over the past few weeks I have been working with a company to help them evaluate and define their core values and overall company mission. Many companies when creating core values and a company mission statement tend to get wrapped up in the wordsmithing and getting overly creative and fluffy in the language they use versus being straight forward about what is important to them and to their company's culture and brand. Many times the focus is all on the product or service and what is forgotten is the culture and how you define the employee and the customer experience. When developing core values and your company's mission statement you really want to be able to answer the how and why your company does the things that it does.

When developing core values and mission statement one suggestion that I found to be very helpful is to identify the attributes and values of people and companies that you really admire, what makes them different? Why do they stand out from everyone else? Next think about the companies and individuals that do not align with your core beliefs, why do they stand out? What examples can you think of that bring them to the forefront of your mind for the wrong reasons?

If your customer experience is core to your brand then it needs to be expressed somewhere in your company's core values and or your mission statement. You need to insure that everyone who comes in contact with your company, especially your employees, understands the importance of the customer experience to your overall brand. This simple first step will help you and your company begin to lay the foundation for making the customer experience a differentiator for your brand.

Locate My Nearest...

A common customer interaction for many retailers is locating the nearest store. How easy or difficult is it for your customer to find this information? Is there a store locator clearly shown on your website? Does the store locator show hours of operations, is there a local phone number, are directions easily accessible? If you answered no to any of these questions what do you think your customer does when they cannot find the right answer. Generally they have a choice,

(1) Keep looking for the information they need with increased frustration
(3) Call your 800# to find the required information
(if they can find a number on your website, that experience is for a whole other post)
(4) Go to a competitor

All of these options cost you money. If you are a consumer (which all of us are) what experience do you want to have? The easier and more accessible we make information, the better the customer experience will be. It may take a bit more time and effort but this simple transaction can say so much about your brand.

Now, how do you turn this very simple transaction into an ROI for your business? Let's say that in a particular market you spent $20,000 on local advertising and promotion and you expect that advertising to generate 50 new customers. The cost of aquisition is $400 ($20,000 / 50). If in the process of trying to find your actual store location 10% of your targeted customers gave up and went somewhere else your cost of aquisition just went from $400 to $444 ($20,000 / 45). In the first scenario if your average retail ticket is $100 it will take 4 visits to your store to receive an ROI on your initial investment. In the second scenario it would take 4.4 visits.

What if when the customer looked for a nearest location, the information requested is quickly provided increasing the liklihood of achieving your target of 50 new customers? What if you could also increase their average ticket price from $100 to $120 by providing a coupon or special promotion related to just that store? You now have decreased your ROI from 4.4 visits to 3.3 visits ($400 / $120).

See the attached article on best practices for improving your store locator usability.

http://bit.ly/thwvv0