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Significance

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Significance

As we discussed last Month, Significance is the highest level of the 9s for your company, and is one of the most important.

At this level, you must answer the following questions for your company:

  • What Problem do you solve better than anyone else?
  • What is the Promise we make a client?
  • What is the Purpose of our company?
  • Why does what we do matter?
  • Why should our company exist?
  • What impact are you providing to the world?
  • How will this change lives?

Recently I spent two days with a client, a furniture reseller with 75 employees in two offices. They had lost their ability to know the significance of their company. I asked some of the employees and C-Level about their significance and many answered- “We provide office furniture for companies.”

“That’s not really the significance, that is just what you do,” I explained. “What significance does your company have to your clients?” They could not answer the question. And there was the problem. I worked with them for two months at all levels to help them find the answers to the questions I posed at the beginning of this article.

I helped them figure out what their promise to the marketplace is and what their purpose is. It is important to note when you start thinking about significance; there is an inherent promise that you make the world, and then there’s the purpose. The reason you’re making the promise in the first place. There is distinction between ‘what I’m going to do for you’ versus ‘why I’m going to do it for you’. The ‘Why’ is the purpose and the ‘What’ is the promise. If your company cannot connect those two things to the impact it will have on the customer, the marketplace or the world, then you will not have a clear understanding of your significance as a company.

The ‘why’ your company exists is a deep concept.

Consider it from the standpoint, if you’re trying to motivate 500,000 employees or 500 employees or 50 employees, and they don’t believe what they’re doing is significant for their customer or for the marketplace . Let’s take the example of the furniture company. Imagine you’re my employee for a minute, and you come to me and say, “Hey, I’m having trouble with a customer.”  I would respond, “Why do they need those 40 chairs? Really, help me understand by having their 40 chairs delivered at the time they need it delivered, how does that impact their business? How does that change their world? How did you select the chairs to contribute to that best effort in business?”This changes the conversation from, “Just sell them some office chairs” to something beyond the transactional model. A person can go to any office supply store and buy chairs. Unless you want to be transactional company, this approach will commoditize the business and erode margins and profits. Question is, how will buying chairs from YOU impact that client? Why would they buy from your company? Why do they need those chairs? Are they getting more employees? Are theirs old and damaged? Are they trying to change their image or brand? What is the purpose of those 40 chairs?

When you have clearly defined the significance of your company, you can begin to define how you are different from your competition. And when you know why you are different from your competition then you can protect your margins. Once the upper management understands the company’s significance, it is important to be sure each person within the company also understands the Significance. Each employee should feel and know the significance that their company, which is different than any other company in the world, brings to the market place.

Going back to the previous example of the furniture company, I had a meeting with 20 leaders in their organization and I asked them question about their purpose and they were able to come up with, “To inspire and impact lives, productivity and improve the business.”

They said, “Absolutely because that’s not our customer.”

I asked them, “So are you going to be able to walk away from a client who sees furniture as a commodity, only interested in lowest price, that are not interested in improving or inspiring the lives of their employees or their customers?”

This was during the description phase and so that is where they are now. That’s why they exist.

 “I am trying to sell them 40 chairs, but I am having trouble closing the deal.”

“What is the problem?”

If you think you’re a commodity you will then have that risk to lower your margins. And if you think that you sell your promise and know why you contribute then will act differently, think differently, and contribute differently.

 

Posted by Mike Toney / Posted on 07 Sep
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