Joseph Michelli: What’s the Purpose of Your Business?

“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.

Believing in this mantra for years, as an avid reader of the books by Dr. Joseph Michelli, I have learned so much about delivering the World’s Best Customer Experience through his insight starting with his book, The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary. Having had a long career in hospitality, I especially learned from Dr. Michelli’s The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton. I was fortunate to have Dr. Michelli write a blog post about his book, Driven to Delight: Delivering World-Class Customer Experience the Mercedes-Benz Way.

Before I begin, I want to thank Bill for his thought leadership in customer experience elevation and his longstanding support of others like me.

If your answer to that question was anything other than “to create a customer,” you may want to read on.

It’s common for entrepreneurs and business leaders to think they are in business to “create profit”; however, I’d argue you are in business to “create a customer” – since there is no profit without them. Ironically, prioritizing profits can actually lead to business decisions that drive customers away.

As a consultant to organizations of all sizes (from startups to global enterprises like Mercedes-Benz or Starbucks), I’ve learned that “customer creation” (attracting and retaining them) is a simple matter of value! 

For my book Stronger Through Adversity, I spoke to more than 140 plus CEO’s and C-suite executives to garner insights on how they create value for their team members and customers in the context of the pandemic. 

Their insights reinforce six key components of creating and exchanging customer value to drive success in good times and bad:

1. Explore value: Understand the wants and needs of your consumers.
2. Create value: Craft solutions to address your consumers’ needs.
3. Market value: Communicate the benefits of your solutions to your consumers.
4. Sell value: Help consumers find sufficient value in your offerings so they will provide something of value to you in return (e.g., make a purchase).
5. Deliver value: Ensure your consumers receive the value you promised.
6. Prosper through value efficiency: Deliver value economically to sustain and grow your business (or else you have a hobby).

I will concede that my value formula is a lot easier to capture on paper than it is to deliver in day-to-day operation, so let me offer a few questions to help you ensure you are on the right track:

• What have you done to uncover your target customer’s stated and unstated wants and needs (market research)?
• How do you know your products/services will meet a sizable need (focus groups/beta testing)?
• How can you gain access to the customer segments that will find your solutions attractive (targeted marketing strategies)?
• What benefits, attributes or experiential elements of your product/service are you emphasizing during your sales process (sales tool development and training)?
• How are you ensuring that your customers receive the value every time they interact with you – no excuses (service skill tools and customer experience design)?
• Have you tested pricing options to guarantee you are maximizing profitability to fuel your sustainability (pricing optimization)?

Large businesses benefit from individual departments that focus on all elements of value creation and delivery while smaller businesses benefit from being closer to their customers.  In all cases, the businesses that faired best throughout the pandemic were those that most nimbly pivoted to address the changing wants, needs, and desires of those they serve. 

In keeping with lessons from Stronger Through Adversity, may you continually and adaptively pursue value that results in customers’ creation, profits, and growth!  

You can learn more about Stronger Through Adversity and get your copy here.