What’s Your “WHY”?

What’s Your “WHY”?

If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.

This is a quote from Simon Sinek. You may have seen the video of him from a Ted Talk which I’ve posted below. It’s gone semi-viral in the business world and explains very persuasively why companies like Apple are successful.

In short, he explains that it’s all about starting with the WHY. If your company has a clear and aspirational story or belief about WHY it does what it does, then others with that same belief or mindset will be attracted to your products or services. And in addition, you will attract fanatically loyal employees.

If you don’t have time to watch the video, here’s part of the transcript in which he speaks about how Apple communicates:

“If Apple were like everyone else, a marketing message from them might sound like this:

We make great computers. They’re beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. Want to buy one?

That’s how most of us communicate. We say what we do, we say how we’re different or how we’re better and expect a result, a purchase.

But here’s how Apple actually communicates:

Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. This is why we are perfectly comfortable buying an mp3 from Apple, or a phone or a dvr from Apple.

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

This idea makes sense and I think it rings true for Apple. The problem is, in order for it to work for you, it requires that your company and it’s leaders have a belief, or a mission for what you do. Most don’t. And unfortunately, it can’t be faked.

I’ve worked for many companies in my professional life, and I cannot think of many that have had a WHY like Apple. An exception would have to be my current company. Yes, I realize this sounds convenient and self-serving by saying this on this blog, but so be it – it happens to be the truth.

The WHY of LS Screening – the WHY we do what we do – centers around Client support. Here’s a shot at articulating our WHY:

We realize that any legitimate background screening company has the same access to the same researchers and same information, that’s why we believe that superior Client support is vital to our success. In fact, we will go so far as to say that we are in the Client Support and Response Business.

I realize that many companies would claim to have a similar WHY as ours. And that’s fine. What matters is that our WHY is true.

It’s proven by our employee retention – only one person has quit in the last 7 years, and that was as a result of cutting back their hours.

And, it’s proven by our Client retention and growth – we have grown by at least 25% year after year; all from word of mouth and organic growth. No advertising and no Internet strategy until a few weeks ago.

Our WHY isn’t just a corporate belief that’s written down somewhere. In fact, this is the first time I believe its been written. But importantly it does inform how we act. For example, it’s why:

– We take calls and emails on weekends when nearly all background screening companies do not.
– John Pate, our President, gladly provides his personal cell phone number to any and all Clients. (It’s 214-755-3885)
– Our phones rarely ever go to voice mail. (It’s a percentage we monitor monthly)
– We admit mistakes. Sometimes our researchers make mistakes and sometimes we make mistakes. It’s a human business. Since we hate it when other companies don’t admit when they are wrong, we try not to do it ourselves.

Does your company have a WHY that informs how you do business? See if you can articulate it. Could be interesting. Or not.

And if there’s any Clients reading this that think our WHY is not accurate, we would love to hear from you. Truly. Feel free to post a comment below for all to see. Or, send our President, John Pate and email at john.pate@lsscreen.com.

– Charles Drozdyk