Brand success starts with motivated employees

Running a successful hotel isn’t easy. I have stayed in many that are terrible… but (sadly) few that are excellent.

I recently saw an interview on Bloomberg with Chip Conely (CEO and founder of the Joie De Vivre boutique hotels in California).

It sounds like he has created a winning organisation that has loyal consumers who actively advocate the brand (a pretty good measure of success).

He says it is all about the employees; and how happy employees are great for the consumer and great for the company. His inspiration was Maslow ‘Hiercarchy of Needs’ (above) .

A challenge he has is to motivate 1000+ cleaners that clean the loos 5 days a week! He achieves this by working out how to provide recognition and meaning to their lives (stuff at the top of the pyramid).

He also looked closely at companies like Apple and South West Airlines. (Brands I frequently eulogise about.)

A key step he then took was to change the company culture by firstly changing the mission statement to “Create Joy” and secondly by training everyone on how to find simple moments to give joy to the customer.

I love this kind of stuff.

If you work for a brand organisation that is serious about delighting the consumer then maybe you should watch his interview and/or buy his book.

Why don't more airlines WOW their passengers?

I talk about airlines quite a lot.

Airlines should be masters of delivering brand experiences that delight consumers.

I regular fly BA and they are pretty good.

I have moaned about Ryan Air.

I have enthused about SW airlines.

I want to enthuse about SW again because, although I have never travelled with them, I read a lot of positive stories about them.

And no wonder....a quick look at their mission statement says it all:

"The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit."

They obviously walk the talk.

This video is a great example of how employees look for ways to WOW the consumer... so they have a great brand experience...probably choose SW again...and may be even tell their friends/advocate SW airlines.

Other airlines - particularly low cost airlines - should take note