Why and How To Create A Purpose-Driven Brand That Customers Love

Why and How To Create A Purpose-Driven Brand That Customers Love

Are you looking to differentiate your business in a crowded market? Do you want to attract and retain customers in the right way? Then you need to intentionally create a purpose-driven company that matches what buyers care about as they vote with their wallets.

Leading with purpose is about committing to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) alongside business objectives. Examples include:

  • Environmental: carbon emissions, water and energy usage, waste generation, pollution levels, climate change risk, and biodiversity impact.
  • Social: employee health and safety, diversity and inclusion, labor practices, human rights, and community relations.
  • Governance: board composition, executive compensation, ethics and compliance, risk management, and shareholder rights.

Too often, company leaders think they must choose between focusing on corporate responsibility versus financial performance. Yet, “both/and” mindset is achievable and essential for long-term success. (Check out Both/And thinking to solve the toughest problems at scale on DoingCXRight podcast ep. 49.)

 

Why Purpose-Driven Brands Succeed: Data Shows The Benefits

  • Buyers are willing to pay a premium.

    Accenture study indicates 62% of consumers globally want companies to take a stand on environmental, social, and political issues. 72% said they would pay more. Nielsen survey reveals similar findings: 55% of global online consumers across 60 countries are willing to pay more for products and services from companies committed to positive social and environmental impact.

  • Customers are more loyal.  

    According to Harvard Business Review, companies’ performance outperforms their peers financially. ESG focussed companies have lower risk profiles and better long-term prospects. Furthermore, companies certified as B Corps (companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance) have higher levels of customer loyalty and brand recognition compared to non-certified companies. They also tend to have amazing cultures where employees are committed to excellence.

  • Customers switch to competitors and tell others. 

    Deloitte’s research reveals 23% of consumers will switch to buying products from an organization that shares their values on environmental issues, and 21% have encouraged others to change too.

  • People boycott a company if it supports an issue contrary to their beliefs.

     Cone Communications CSR study dives into more details.

So, it is no longer a question of whether companies need to be purpose-driven but rather whether they are implementing the strategies correctly to create real value among buyer segments.

How to Implement Purpose-Driven Branding into Your Business Operations

To create a purpose-driven company, you must put the customer at the center of your business. A tactical approach is bringing cross-teams together, co-designing the customer journey from the “inside-out” and then validating with real customers. Don’t skip this part!

For those unfamiliar with Journey mapping, it’s a method to visualize and understand the customer’s values, expectations, and needs. A journey map helps solve pain points wherever people interact with your brand (aka moments of truth) leveraging multi-sources of feedback.

Conclusion

By focusing on any of the ESG factors, companies can create a purpose-driven brand that resonates with customers and builds loyalty. The same applies to attracting better talent and retaining a customer-centric workforce ~ employees, interns, service agents, contractors, etc.

But how can you be known for your purpose as a competitive advantage? What are ways to measure customer experience and loyalty? That’s where I can help you as an expert in building customer-centric cultures and gaining internal alignment, as organizational silos are detrimental.

Let’s talk about Doing CX Right. And sign up for my newsletter full of actionable free tips.

Lessons Learned From Best-In-Class Customer Experience Brands

Lessons Learned From Best-In-Class Customer Experience Brands

Doing CX Right podcast show on Spotify with host Stacy Sherman
DoingCXRight-Podcast-on-Amazon-with-host-Stacy-Sherman.
Doing Customer Experience (CX) Right Podcast - Hosted by Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on iHeart Radio with host Stacy Sherman

How hard is it to become your customer?

What can we learn from best-in-class customer experience companies that consistently achieve brand loyalty and advocacy?

Featured podcast guest, Joseph Michelli, Ph.D., a Wall Street Journal and New York Times #1 bestselling author, shares actionable customer experience leadership tips that you apply to your business based on the secret sauce that other reputable brands are doing right. His advice is based on working with customer-centric brands including The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Starbucks, Mercedes-Benz, Airbnb, Zappos, and the Pike Place Fish Market.

 

 

What you’ll learn from this episode of Doing CX Right with Stacy Sherman & Joseph Michelli, PH.D.

  • What customer experience means and which brands are known for CX.
  • Proven strategies and tactical steps that reputable brands take to achieve success.
  • Effective ways to motivate employees to deliver memorable customer experiences.
  • Should staff be monetarily incentivized to achieve customer satisfaction metrics?
  • Best leadership advice received and given.
  • The most important key take away for business leaders to do now.

Press Play To WATCH Interview:

About Joseph Michelli, Ph.D. ~ Lessons From Best-In-Class Customer Experience Brands

Joseph is a certified customer experience professional, one of Global Guru’s top three experts on customer service, the author of ten business books about companies like Stronger Through Adversity, Airbnb, Starbucks, Zappos, Mercedes-Benz, and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. In addition to being a Wall Street Journal and New York Times #1 bestselling author, Joseph helps leadership teams improve the experiences they provide for team members and customers. He also is an internationally sought-after keynote speaker on leadership and customer or patient experience. More details are on his website.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephmichelli

https://www.twitter.com/josephmichelli

https://www.facebook.com/themichelliexperience

About Stacy Sherman: Founder of Doing CX Right®‬

An award-winning certified marketing and customer experience (CX) corporate executive, speaker, author, and podcaster, known for DoingCXRight®. She created a Heart & Science™ framework that accelerates customer loyalty, referrals, and revenue, fueled by engaged employees and customer service representatives. Stacy’s been in the trenches improving experiences as a brand differentiator for 20+ years, working at companies of all sizes and industries, like Liveops, Schindler elevator, Verizon, Martha Steward Craft, AT&T++.   Stacy is on a mission to help people DOING, not just TALKING about CX, so real human connections & happiness exist. Continue reading bio >here.

Leading Experience Management During Uncertain Times

Leading Experience Management During Uncertain Times

Doing CX Right podcast show on Spotify with host Stacy Sherman
DoingCXRight-Podcast-on-Amazon-with-host-Stacy-Sherman.
Doing Customer Experience (CX) Right Podcast - Hosted by Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on iHeart Radio with host Stacy Sherman

What does Experience Management (XM) mean?

Bruce Temkin, often referred to as the “Godfather of Customer Experience.” created six laws of experience management.  These are important to understand and implement, especially during times of uncertainty.

Key factors include:

  • People are emotional, not rational
  • Journeys add meaning to moments
  • Actions transform insights into value
  • Commitment aligns behaviors
  • Leaders boost or break inertia
  • Experience management (XM) is a habit, not an act

During the episode, you’ll hear details about these six laws and ways leaders can “boost inertia” to radically improve customer service, employee empowerment, and all human experiences at scale.   

Press Play To WATCH Interview:

About Bruce Temkin ~Experience Management (XM) Visionary

Bruce is often referred to as the “Godfather of Customer Experience.” He leads the Qualtrics XM Institute, which provides thought leadership, training, and a global community of XM professionals called “XM Pros.” XM Institute’s mission is to empower and inspire XM professionals to radically improve human experiences.

Prior to Qualtrics, Bruce led Temkin Group, which provided research, advisory, and training that helped many of the world’s leading brands build customer loyalty by engaging the hearts and minds of their customers, employees, and partners. He is also the co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Customer Experience Professionals Association. Prior to Temkin Group, Bruce spent 12 years with Forrester Research during which time he led the company’s B2B, financial services, eBusiness, and customer experience practices and was the most-read analyst for 13 consecutive quarters.

XM Institute publishes a wealth of content and tools for XM professionals to improve their customer and employee experiences, all of which you can access for free at XMinstitute.com.

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About Stacy Sherman: Founder of Doing CX Right®‬

An award-winning certified marketing and customer experience (CX) corporate executive, speaker, author, and podcaster, known for DoingCXRight®. She created a Heart & Science™ framework that accelerates customer loyalty, referrals, and revenue, fueled by engaged employees and customer service representatives. Stacy’s been in the trenches improving experiences as a brand differentiator for 20+ years, working at companies of all sizes and industries, like Liveops, Schindler elevator, Verizon, Martha Steward Craft, AT&T++.   Stacy is on a mission to help people DOING, not just TALKING about CX, so real human connections & happiness exist. Continue reading bio >here.

Creating a Frictionless Organization & Better Customer Experiences

Creating a Frictionless Organization & Better Customer Experiences

Doing CX Right podcast show on Spotify with host Stacy Sherman
DoingCXRight-Podcast-on-Amazon-with-host-Stacy-Sherman.
Doing Customer Experience (CX) Right Podcast - Hosted by Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on iHeart Radio with host Stacy Sherman

Being frictionless has become a strategic necessity.

What does frictionless even mean? What are simple steps to remove customer pain points and get to a frictionless state based on learnings from the most reputable brands? 

Whether your company is a small start-up, mid-size or large corporation, the principles are the same, and it is in your control to improve experiences for everyone who interacts with your brand. In fact, customer loyalty depends on it.


Topics discussed:

  • The definition of frictionless.
  • Why should business managers and leaders care?
  • Practical advice from Bill’s previous book: ‘The Best Service Is No Service,’  
  • Proven ways to reduce customer complaints by removing friction. 
  • Bill’s step-by-step methodology to remove customer pain points and sustain a frictionless state. 
  • Doing CX Right examples from companies all over the world including Airbnb, Amazon, Tesla, Zoom, etc. 

 

Press Play To WATCH Interview:

About Bill Price ~ The Frictionless Organization

Bill Price started Driva Solutions in September 2001 to help companies achieve the delicate balance between cost containment and greater customer loyalty, co-founded the 9-country LimeBridge Global Alliance in early 2002, and is the lead co-author of three books: The Best Service is No Service, Your Customer Rules!, and The Frictionless Organization. Bill served as Amazon’s first Vice President of Global Customer Service and before that was Vice President & General Manager of MCI Call Center Services, COO & CFO with a start-up software company in San Francisco, and a Senior Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company in San Francisco and Stockholm. Bill received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and his MBA from Stanford University, and lives in Bellevue, Washington.

Learn more about Bill Price on his website.  Connect on LinkedIn 

About Stacy Sherman: Founder of Doing CX Right®‬

An award-winning certified marketing and customer experience (CX) corporate executive, speaker, author, and podcaster, known for DoingCXRight®. She created a Heart & Science™ framework that accelerates customer loyalty, referrals, and revenue, fueled by engaged employees and customer service representatives. Stacy’s been in the trenches improving experiences as a brand differentiator for 20+ years, working at companies of all sizes and industries, like Liveops, Schindler elevator, Verizon, Martha Steward Craft, AT&T++.   Stacy is on a mission to help people DOING, not just TALKING about CX, so real human connections & happiness exist. Continue reading bio >here.

Hooked On Customers: Habits of Legendary Customer-Centric Companies

Hooked On Customers: Habits of Legendary Customer-Centric Companies

Doing CX Right podcast show on Spotify with host Stacy Sherman
DoingCXRight-Podcast-on-Amazon-with-host-Stacy-Sherman.
Doing Customer Experience (CX) Right Podcast - Hosted by Stacy Sherman
Doing CX Right podcast show on iHeart Radio with host Stacy Sherman

What does it mean to be ‘hooked on customers?’ How does it propel businesses into action?

My featured podcast guest, Bob Thompson, author and CEO of Customer Think Corp, and I discuss the importance of being “hooked on customers” based on his best-selling book.  We also explore customer-centric businesses, examine the ways they execute their strategies, and provide actionable recommendations for you to outperform competitors.

Bob explains that “learning to let your actions do the talking can be revolutionary to a company that struggles to create enduring customer relationships. People who own, operate, manage, or otherwise lead a company always look for ways to improve productivity, beat the competition, and ensure long-term success. Talking is cheap. Putting words and ideas into action is the key to success in the business world.” (Kudos to brands transforming customer experiences mentioned: Trader Joes, Southwest Airlines and others.)

Legendary leading customer-centric businesses:

  • LISTEN to their customers’ values and feedback.
  • THINK about the implications of fact-based decisions on customers
  • EMPOWER employees with the freedom they need to please customers
  • CREATE new value for customers without being asked
  • DELIGHT customers by exceeding their expectations

There are no quick fixes.  Customer-centricity takes time, determination, and company-wide commitment.

It must be maintained and constantly pursued to ensure that it becomes part of the fabric of a business. You can have an altruistic company that’s profitable too. One doesn’t replace the other. (Learn more about Both/And Thinking instead of Either/Or mindset).

In the end, the results are well worth it. Hooked on Customers helps leaders not only survive in highly competitive, overcrowded markets but dominate them, creating a legacy of success and inspiration along the way.

Press Play To WATCH Interview:

About Bob Thompson ~”Hooked On Customers” 

Bob Thompson is CEO of CustomerThink Corp., an independent research and publishing firm focused on customer-centric business management, and Founder/Editor-in-Chief of CustomerThink.com, the world’s largest community dedicated to customer-centric business. Thompson is a popular international keynote speaker, blogger and author of Hooked On Customers: The Five Habits of Legendary Customer-Centric Companies (April 2014).

Learn more about Bob on his website.  Connect with him on LinkedIn + Twitter.

About Stacy Sherman: Founder of Doing CX Right®‬

An award-winning certified marketing and customer experience (CX) corporate executive, speaker, author, and podcaster, known for DoingCXRight®. She created a Heart & Science™ framework that accelerates customer loyalty, referrals, and revenue, fueled by engaged employees and customer service representatives. Stacy’s been in the trenches improving experiences as a brand differentiator for 20+ years, working at companies of all sizes and industries, like Liveops, Schindler elevator, Verizon, Martha Steward Craft, AT&T++.   Stacy is on a mission to help people DOING, not just TALKING about CX, so real human connections & happiness exist. Continue reading bio >here.