Clearly defining the “why” behind your business, both for your customers and employees, creates a shared understanding of value, fosters a strong company culture, and drives profitability.
Primary Implication
Employees who do not know the why behind what they do nor how they create value for your customers create employee disconnects, resulting in poor customer service. When phone calls and emails aren’t returned promptly, accurate billing isn’t provided, or win-win problem solving, with an overall pleasant demeanor, will quickly sink your business.
Overview
Once you know who your customers are, what problem they are trying to solve, when they will most likely need your help, and where they will want to transact business, you can confidently define why they should value what you do. It is the why to believe in what you do for your customers and employees.
The answer to why for your customers helps your employees connect to the why behind what they do. Your ability to earn higher profits has its origins in the why your business for your customers that your leadership is hired to deliver through your business model. It is held together by your culture, anchored by your strategic style, and embodied by your employees.
Not knowing the why behind what you offer your customers creates disconnects between your employees and your management team. For example, fail to help see that the monies paid to them each payday flow directly from the monies paid by the customer for the goods and services they purchase leads to dysfunction. Most often, the disconnect with the source of money funding their paycheck often shows up as poor customer service, which in turn affects the customer’s ability to see value in what you are selling and in their experience with your company. When customers fail to see and experience the value your employees are supposed to offer, you won’t experience the profits you should.
Precise clarity on the why gives you the ability to teach your employees why what they do matters to the customer. The hard reality is that if your employees aren’t clear on the why behind what they do, they will waste resources and jeopardize your ability to produce your products cost-effectively.
You reduce the strain on your assets and the drain on your employees by helping those who work with you understand precisely why people buy your products or utilize your services. By having a documented customer value proposition (CVP), you provide access to foundational information to all those who are expected to deliver your products and services.
Successful businesses have influential leaders and a culture that reinforces their values. They develop their strategic style and then use it to anchor their customer value proposition while helping their employees learn the duties they are to perform.
When you have strong leadership in place, no matter the size of your organization, you have foundational building-blocks for success. If you also have a healthy culture that reinforces the values of your company and a consistent pattern of response in handling problems that arise from interactions among employees, with customers, and within the business environment, you will also have the “mortar” that holds your disconnected building blocks together. This is how higher profits and predictable cash flows are created and maintained.
Disconnects in any organization can have fatal consequences. This is why the fifth organizing principle for your business model involves why, not just to your customers, but also to the employees who are the ones paid to create the value for your customer’s matters. The importance of your employees in understanding and creating “value” will become even more apparent as we discuss the sixth organizing principle, associated with how.
