“Know your why.” —Adidas slogan
In high school, football dominated my focus. No matter how much my parents and teachers stressed the importance of education, I just wanted to do what felt good to me at the moment. And that was blocking, tackling, and driving. That’s all I needed to know. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do well in school; it’s just that I didn’t have the personal motivation to make it a priority. I didn’t understand why.
But then the reality hit me that being a talented athlete with no job and no education wasn’t going to be so cool when I was 25. Once I understood why it was important to apply myself in school, I didn't need my parents to be on my case or teachers reminding me to do my work. I just did it. I knew I needed to push myself academically to reach my professional goals. I didn’t need anyone telling me what to do; I just needed to know for myself why to do it. I believe in the mind’s power so wholeheartedly that I personally hire coaches to help me where I’m weakest. I have (or have had) coaches for speaking, running my business, taking care of my health and more. I know there’s a reason the coaches I choose are successful in their specialty areas, and if I can train myself to see as they see and think as they think, I can be successful too.
Digging into the why allows us to correct limiting beliefs, establish new beliefs, and make real, long-term changes. When a person’s beliefs are in line, their behaviors follow. The right beliefs lead to the right behaviors, which creates loyal customers. Customers feel loyal to a builder when they trust they’ve found a partner in their mission and when they are confident their builder and builder representatives will look out for their best interest.
Commit to following key steps to transform the way you look at customer service.
1) Focus on company culture.
Company culture is not just made up of the ideals that company leadership profess, but of each employee’s beliefs. This is why builders, team leaders, and individuals cannot afford to ignore company culture. It’s the one thing that makes everything else (brand loyalty and elated customers, for example) possible. You must actively build a culture that leads to customer loyalty. This isn’t about creating a perception of having happy customers. It’s about creating a culture that leads to the best possible customer experience, and therefore, truly delighted customers.
Company culture is more important than the floor plans you develop, the land you buy, and the upgrades you offer. It lays the foundation for true service certainty.
2) Challenge your beliefs.
We agree with Wayne Dyer’s assertion: “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” The way we view things shapes everything—our behaviors and results included. Our beliefs permeate our approach to the world—work, home life, and everything in between. In order to truly effect change, we must change the way we see things. The most effective, longest-lasting way to change behavior is to change the way you see the world—the way you believe and think. It’s a powerful thing: Programming drives beliefs, beliefs drive emotions, emotions drive behaviors, and behaviors drive results.
Instead of spinning your wheels addressing behaviors (our own or someone else’s), we advocate for working on programming by teaching and adopting new beliefs. From there, behaviors follow. And new behaviors cause new results.
Seeing things differently can genuinely lead to a better life. What we believe, how we feel, what we think, and how we see ourselves all have more influence over our success than anything else. Even our abilities fade in importance. And best yet, when our beliefs are in line, they drive the behaviors that lead to loyalty in our customers. They feel assured and comfortable with every step of the process. So let’s talk about culture, beliefs, customer needs, and the practical solutions that lead to addicted, raving fans—advocates for our products and communities!
