Start with Why by Simon Sinek’ and you’re a business owner or in marketing, then I strongly suggest that you add this literature to your personal library. Trying to paraphrase a 300- page book (or almost 8-hours of listening for you audible fans out there) is impossible, but the core message behind the book is ‘People don’t buy what you do, but WHY you do it.’ Sure, people buy products and services that they need, but the book goes a bit further and explains how successful brands and businesses with substantial amounts of customer loyalty do more than just sell a product. They inspire rather than manipulate. Take a peek at the “why’s” the following brands/companies chose: APS: To create a sustainable energy future for Arizona. Disneyland: To create happiness for others. Mary Kay Cosmetics: To give unlimited opportunity to women. 3M: To solve unsolved problems innovatively. Southwest Airlines: Connect People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel. Procter and Gamble: To provide branded products and services of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’s consumers, now and for generations to come. Ronald McDonald House Charities: To create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children and their families. Remember the goal isn’t to do business with everyone who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with the people who believe what you believe which is the “why” and in turn you create a brand and/or company that is built on loyalty. Are you simply selling food, or are you providing your clientele with hand-selected, sustainably sourced, season ingredients from the country’s top farms that will help both their health and physical fitness? Are you selling a typical vacuum, or are you delivering an innovative machine developed by top engineers to outperform others and built to last. It’s proven that when you start everything by asking “Why” you will achieve greater success. So I now ask you why. Why does your business exist? What is your purpose? Share your mission, core values, and inspire us and others. I’d love to hear your comments below! ]]>
