Talent Leaders Can Learn From Customer Science - To Foster 'Loyalty Beyond Reason'

 

'Loyalty' by Sherry Ezhuthachan

Stepping across from the world of marketing and brands into talent management has helped me to appreciate there are more common areas than I'd previously realized.  To be high achievers in the talent industry, HR and talent leaders will need to learn the lessons of brand managers.

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"Loyalty Beyond Reason? - That's a funny name for a blog.."

I often get funny looks when I tell people about my new blog title.

I came across Loyalty Beyond Reason when reading one of my favourite books for the second or possible third time and I was reminded how central it is to running business in the noughties.  The book,written by Kevin Roberts, then CEO Worldwide of Saatchi and Saatchi, is called Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands.  It's a slightly annoying book because it's better than the three books on business I've written myself.  Anyway, reading the book you realize Kevin is one of those guys that 'understands' how customers and markets work at an 'organic' rather than 'theoretical' level, a bit like Richard Branson.

The key argument introduced in the book is that industry and commerce has moved from a focus on products, to (but products have become very similar, companies need to protect their IP some how and therefore we have..) trademarks, to (but customers don't connect to trademarks so we have..) brands to (but now we even have too many brands to think about so we need to give customers reasons to grow 'loyalty beyond reason' so we're heading towards..) 'Lovemarks'.

It isn't difficult for me to buy into the idea that companies don't own their brands anymore and - if they want their brands to be successful - they need their customers to take them on, buy into them, promote them.  Just look at brands like Apple and the passion users have for their products.  This isn't just a cold, calculating buying decision at work here.  Nope. These boys and girls LOVE their brand.  No matter how many advertising dollars go into Microsoft I don't see the same thing happening with that brand.  Now I know some of the guys at Microsoft in the product marketing teams and I have to say they're an exceptional bunch of folk.  They know their stuff when it comes to Outcome Driven Innovation and all the latest thinking and approaches on Product Management and how to deliver world class products.  Recent launches show there's nothing wrong with their products.  Yet they don't engender the same passion and loyalty in their customers as Apple has managed to do.  They are failing to create Loyalty Without Reason.

Spending my time in the talent industry over the past few months I've learned that the need for Loyalty Beyond Reason is missing in many employer:employee relationships, let alone contractor:contracted relationships.  The relationship between a customer and and a supplier very often only becomes contractual when the customer chooses their brand.  Before that they can go anywhere.  Perhaps employers think that because they have an employment contract in place they can within reason 'do what they like' when it comes to their relationship with staff and contractors - but this is a pipe dream.  Even when there are contracts and agreements, these don't create great productivity and game-changing ideas.  Like any contract, it's only really there for when the relationship breaks down.  No, if talent leaders want high performing workforce and world class talent, they're going to have to forget about contracts and compliance, using performance appraisals as a way of formalizing how the carrot and stick are applied, they're going to have to find better ways of creating loyalty beyond reason.

The brand industry knows that you can't tell customers to buy your products,  you can't even ask them nicely.  You have to get customers to want to buy.  And the buying decision isn't all about facts, analysis and reason, the last 9-yards is pure emotion; how it makes you feel to own a product or use a service.  I fly Virgin Atlantic because they play T-Rex when you walk down that long isle on the plane past the nouveau riche to economy. Makes me feel good.

Talent leaders need to invest in their people 'in a certain way' - not the Microsoft way, the Apple way.  As with the Customer Science industry, the starting point is to invest time in understanding 'the individual' and applying actionable insights to draw out the things people care about emotionally, on the edge of reason.  Any business can do this - big or small, accountants or engineers.  You just have to start in the right place.

I.