Which strategy would you choose to increase profits in the long-term?
Developing healthy relationships and loyalty between people is a great way to achieve sustainable success. However, there are different approaches a Brand can take to connect with people, like the ones below:
Different approaches
Different approaches include:
Customer Centered – focused on customers (people that buy the product)
Consumer Centered – focused on consumers (people that use the product)
Pythian Quest’s approach of People Centered – focused on all people involved with the Brand (employees/associates and customers/consumers).
People-Focused
People-focused includes all people involved with our Brand, as each group has something constructive to offer:
Employees & Associates – Are the backbone of the company. The quality of our Company Culture will determine the level of production & performance.
Customers & Consumers – Are the last piece of the puzzle. They are the ones who keep the Brand alive by giving it value.
How is a People-focused approach implemented?
What does it mean to focus on people? It means keeping people’s experiences of our Brand at the center of our decisions.
Employees & associates
If employees & associates are not satisfied with their experience of working with our Brand, they will not become loyal to it and will therefore lack the incentive to do their best. The best way to focus on employees’ experience is to think about the whole journey:
- Recruitment – make sure to attract people that share our Brand’s Purpose & Philosophy (values).
- Company Culture – make sure to build a healthy culture between all teams & employees. This entails a balance of discipline and freedom, where you achieve efficiency and productivity while also maintaining the passion and drive you have for your work. Management should be trained and provided with the right tools to achieve strong and continuous team bonding in order to create healthy and sustainable relationships between them and establish loyalty. The Company’s Culture should be adjusted to match the Brand (its Purpose & Philosophy) by creating a unique environment of synergy.
- Leaving the Brand – high employee turnover is a major indicator that the Company’s Culture needs improvement. Being open to feedback and understanding the reason why people leave the company will help improve the Brand’s organisational behaviour and culture.
Customers & Consumers
Just like employees & associates, if customers & consumers are not satisfied with the experience they receive by our Brand, they will not become loyal and will therefore not prefer our Brand over competitors or alternatives.
Understanding and focusing on customer & consumer journey is key, which includes any & every interaction one has with the Brand:
- Digital presence – digital presence is a very significant factor when we attempt to build our Consumer Culture, we need to be careful to present our Brand accurately instead of using techniques that bring instant profits and popularity. Focusing on creating quality content that is aligned with our Brand’s Purpose & Philosophy is a great starting point.
- Product/Service – how does our product/service impact people’s lives? Our products/services need to deliver and ideally surpass people’s expectations, make sure the product is unique in its own way (even if it’s not something new) and aligned with our Brand and Brand Promise (what we promise consumers).
- Customer Service – a great way of creating a great consumer experience as people have direct contact with the Brand.
- Marketing & Sales – these activities should also be aligned with our Brand while ensuring that what we promise to consumers that they will experience will be matched or even surpassed.
- And so on – each Brand is unique, any touchpoint a person has with it should be carefully thought out and constructed.
Sustainable Success
Focusing on the experience of all people involved with our Brand creates consistency and, ideally, loyalty. This is a major factor for being successful in the long-term. It leads to:
- Recurring customers & consumers
- Evangelists – people who promote our Brand with no incentive other than loyalty
- Forgiving – people are more likely to forgive any mistakes we make
- Openness – people are more open to changes
- People are more reluctant to switch to another Brand
- Up-selling & Cross-selling – people are more likely to buy more products from us
- And so on.
Loyalty both by employees/associates and customers/consumers is invaluable in the long-term. It allows our Brand to organically expand, it positively impacts people’s lives and offers more opportunities for the Brand to grow in the long-term, which is why we endorse using a people-focused approach.
