Forget flogging your product – the secret to delivering a great customer experience is having a higher purpose.
That was the word from Dick Brunton, the co-founder of Colmar Brunton, New Zealand’s largest and best-known market research company, speaking at Hospitality New Zealand’s annual conference recently.
“An organisation with a big ideal, a higher purpose, a crusade will be more attractive to customers and more motivating to employees. People within these businesses act out of instinct and not just the rule book,” he said.
Then comes the big question, he said, does purpose make money?
He cited extensive research by acclaimed American businessman, author and Professor Jim Stengel, that found the world’s fastest growing enterprises were organised around ideals of importance. His research showed that this is the age for standing for something, pursuing a big ideal and creating profit by creating purpose.
“The successful brands are committed to making a difference in the lives of their customers. They align with five human values – self-expression, connection, authenticity, wellbeing and sustainability.”
Brunton spoke about how hospitality business owners go about finding and implementing their own crusade.
“Ask yourself this, how does (could) my organisation make a positive difference in the lives of my customers, in a way that my competitors don’t. Can you answer that?” he said.
He suggested operators ask themselves the following questions to uncover and create a crusade:
In my market:
– What grieves us about how the market is currently served?
– What do we believe about the industry, what’s our point of view?
– What do/could we stand for or against?
– What could we change or put right?
– How could we make a difference?
He said many crusades fail because of pressure to deliver and wafer-thin commitment. And that’s the challenge for leaders within hospitality businesses.
“The most valuable brands are built and sustained not by marketing departments but brand-minded CEOs, modelling the way. Not everyone can motivate themselves, they need leadership. One of the jobs of leaders is to create meaning. You will have to fight, do you have the courage?” he challenged.
