You can view the live video on the ALEX ALWOOD Facebook page: https://goo.gl/MEAvtW
I’d forgotten just how good it is to step out and immerse myself in a day’s thought leadership. CMO Magazine’s Momentum Conference for marketers provided just that, a day of listening and engaging on my obsession – customer experience.
Having only just landed that morning, Airbnb’s Head of Customer Experience Aisling Hassell got the conversation started with a discussion on the fundamental relationship between purpose, customer and culture – I was in my element!
My #GrowthHack this week is when ‘customers’ are a business’s purpose – why the business exists and why it does what it does, this helps galvanize and align the company to do what’s best for the customer.
AirBnB’s purpose is to ‘create a world where you can belong anywhere’. Their purpose provides meaning and focus by expressing the brand’s role, its reason for being and how people connect and engage.
Hassell stressed the importance of purpose being so much more than a website statement. AirBnB’s purpose defines their mission, values and customer experiences – the culture, customer interactions, products, services and communications.
AirBnB honours their purpose by ‘standing up for their purpose’. Earlier this year the brand took a public stand against President Trump’s immigration ban.
In a campaign that aired at the Superbowl their message was “We believe no
matter who you are, where you’re from, who you love or who you worship, we all belong. ”
Sometimes purpose may be obvious such as in healthcare or environmental services, but the organizational goals are incongruent with this purpose. Other organisations have their purpose informed by a business goal or profit proposition.
In today’s experience economy people rally around brands with a higher purpose such as AirBnB, whose purpose of belonging informs an organizational culture led by customer-centric values and behaviour.
When ‘customer’ is at the heart of culture and informs the mission this in turn galvanises and unifies actions to drive customer into every corner of the business.
And it is this type of culture that delivers real customer value and differentiated experiences that drives long term sustainable growth.
As Hassell says, “You need to stand up for what the brand stands for and that’s when the magic happens’.
Master Customer Journey Mapping
My one-day intensive customer journey mapping workshops are designed to develop your skills in customer research based journey mapping.
The day focuses on developing customer-centric capability and cx tools that you can begin to apply immediately.
In the workshop you will learn how to identify your customers’ unmet needs; their frustrations, service gaps and what they value when interacting with your business.
Find out more about the workshop and how to reserve your seat HERE