Why – Culture & Brand

Usually found in your vision, mission, and strategy statements, this is your “North Star” or your Why. This is why you exist and the overall face your customers see. Think of iconic brands and what they represent. This part of the Triangle gives you focus and keeps you from embarking on tangents that don’t align with who you are. It also avoids confusing your customers - would you buy snack food from a waste disposal company?

There will always be more things you could do than time and resources to do them and gaining new capabilities takes time and money. The ability to pivot and adapt to new market conditions is important but think twice before expanding into a whole new specialty. Strategic alignment is a key filter when evaluating new product opportunities.

This doesn’t mean you should ignore your customers. You are in business to solve their problems. However, you can’t do everything so you need to filter out all the things you could do to find those you should do. CLIC helps guide you through this process.

The customer is king. They are why you are in business. Stay close to them and they will tell you what they need - but have a thick skin. When they point out your flaws and how they are frustrated with you, learn from them and be humble enough to change. However, don’t cast the net too wide. Identify who you can serve best, and focus on them. If anyone else buys your product, great, but don’t water down your brand by spreading it too thin or following others into the low-price race to the bottom. If you have value, people will pay for it.

Also, don’t be blown about by every opinion. Take feedback in aggregate. Look at who is asking, how many of your target customers are asking for it, and how often the request or complaint comes up. Even more importantly, don’t take their first request - dig deeper. Find out not just what they ask for but why they are asking for it. Importantly, don’t stop at the first why, find the core why. Diagnose the condition, not just the symptom. Only when you know what is really causing the pain can you create a cure for it.

Finally, don’t forget your “Why.” That’s why we start there.

Competencies are what you’re good at - what you do better than anyone else. This is what sets you apart from the competition and is a key part of your culture and brand. Lean into it! While innovation and learning new things is vital to staying relevant in a quickly changing world, make sure you are staying in line with your Why and Who. Does it align with who you are? Will it matter to your customers? Will they pay for the new products? Will a pivot cost more than you’ll earn by taking the new path? Will it detract from or cannibalize your current core business in customers or resources? If, after careful analysis everything lines up, go for it! But then make sure you revisit your brand and strategy to bring them in line with your new path.

Once you have your Why, Who, and What CLIC-ing, you can start creating solutions. Remember, though, that your portfolio of solutions should also be looked at together, not just as a set of individual products someone can choose from a shelf, but as a series of supporting solutions that go beyond the transaction to the relationship. Your solution portfolio should make you a partner your customers will turn to in times of need.