Page 36 - CBM26

~ Column Carola ~

COLUMN

THE POWER OF HUMAN CONNECTION IN BUSINESS

Text: Carola Rodrigues // Photos: Kim Booij

hat can you learn from Nike, Adidas, and our suppliers, our prospects, and our existing customers. The
Puma when it comes to bringing custom- feeling that a potential customer gets when they visit your
Wers into the experience of their brand? company for the first time and the receptionist greets them
These companies turn their customers into fans, with a big smile, friendliness and employee pride is priceless.
create infatuation, and when you are in love, you Your sales rep who dares to become visible, proclaims their All-in-one VAT dashboard for
only want one thing: to be with your other half as vision to the market and shares valuable content with the
much as possible. You want that Nike shoe on your potential customer will attract one customer after another like all your European cross-border sales
foot, it makes you feel complete, and you already a magnet. Let’s see if you can implement the following KPIs
know when the next latest limited edition will be within your organisation:
released, and when you get it, you’re happy.
Keep People Informed - Keep People Inspired – Keep People
They do, we do not Interested – Keep People Involved & Keep People in Love.
But what if you are a company that doesn’t focus on
consumers but on other companies? You’re in the so-called Gold in hands
B2B domain and can’t, therefore, apply anything in terms Back to your organisation. You sell services. No, you advise
of inspiration from these cool brands that have understood your customers and help them solve their issues, and your
it. You can’t make your customers fall in love with your service fits in well with that in terms of solution. Your people
organisation. You can’t create fans. It’s impossible for you to make a connection with your customers. Advise them based
have ambassadors who positively trumpet your promise and on their expertise. They fulfil the promise based on your
brand values everywhere. Guess twice. You’ve got it wrong. mission and vision. Every day again. And that can only
But how? Because we don’t have a cool brand, no story to tell be done successfully if your people really believe in it, feel
and really don’t know how to include our business customers it, live it through and then radiate it again. If you dare to
in the promise and experience of our organisation. We’re not make your people more important than your services, then
Nike. you have gold in your hands. Then you will realise that all
your employees are mini brands that together contribute to
Keep people in love one common brand. Then you will realise that you attract
Your people represent the value of your brand. All employees, potential customers like a magnet and that your existing
from receptionists and cleaners to managers and general customers become your fans and ambassadors and tell your
managers and everything in between. For years, we have story positively within their networks. And in the end,
focused on achieving your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) achieving success will be more effortless. Peddling less and
in the business world. From hard to soft KPIs within sales, steering less on the old-fashioned KPIs, so invest everything start selling
you must make at least 50 calls per month, have 8 customer in your people. •• across
visits on your agenda every week, and achieve your new
business target of 30k monthly. Or, at an HR level, ensure the borders
lowest possible cost per hire, figure out the ROI on the new
training program, reduce the absenteeism rate by 5% this year,
and increase the rate of hiring new people by maybe 10%.
And, of course, we need this within our organisations to keep
the ship afloat, but what if we turn it around? If we really put
people first and ensure that our employees fall and stay in DID YOU FIND THIS INTERESTING?
love with our organisation? Follow Carola on LinkedIn or Instagram
Or check out www.carolarodrigues.nl
KPIs in 2023 The next article will appear in September, and we will zoom in on the
If we manage to connect and retain happy, satisfied, healthy concrete steps within a social selling strategy (B2B).
employees, they radiate this energy towards their colleagues,
staxxer.com/en/staxcloud

36