From Spotlight to Shadows: Why Company Values Fail in Silence

New year resolutions and companies' values have two things in common:

It feels good writing them. 

And... 

Nobody really believes in them. 

By the end of this article, you’ll understand why most company values fail and what you can do to turn them into a powerful competitive advantage. 

I probably spent (way) too many hours writing this article and I genuinely believe it will be worth your time. 

Company values, why should you bother?

Done right, company values define what your business stands for.

Sounds “fluffy”?

Think about it. How much budget does your company spend every year trying to distinguish from its competitors?

Whether it’s in marketing, product development or hiring talents, your company is investing money to answer the same question: 

Why should customers choose your company instead of your competitor(s)?

In today’s ultra-competitive landscape, differentiation is a must. However, most differentiation strategies come with a major drawback.  

They are short-lived. 

How long before your competitors catch up with your new product feature? How long before they copy your latest marketing campaign? 

You get the idea.

Regardless of how much money you spend, it’s always a matter of time before you see your competitors creeping in the rearview mirror. 

To stand out from your competitors in the long run, you need something special. Something that all market leaders have in common. 

 A competitive advantage.

Competitive advantages come in various flavours: network effects, trademarks, infrastructure size, etc. 

 In short, a competitive advantage is something that competitors can’t copy easily.

 See where I’m going? 

 Done right, company values are a powerful competitive advantage. 

 However, “done right” is precisely where most companies fall short.

What causes most company values to fail?

Have you ever purchased something from a company because they listed “customer-centric” as one of their values?

Probably not. 

Why? 

Because no other company will ever claim NOT to be “customer-centric”.

Unless you are willing to give this value a real meaning (more on that later), you’re just stating the obvious.

So, when people see “customer-centric” on your website, they chuckle and move on into their busy day. 

How can your company values be perceived as credible? 

The answer is simple, the execution, much less so.

Your company must choose values over profits. (read again)

Companies are built to make profits. All their business decisions gravitate around maximising revenue. 

So when companies make value-based decisions, they show that they aren’t making an empty promise. 

Let me give you an example.

Why is Zappos, the online shoe store company, known as one of the world's most customer-centric companies?

This isn’t because they claim it on their website.

 It’s because their customers experience it every single day. 

Where most companies see call centres as a cost and try to squeeze as many calls as possible per day, Zappos sees it as a way to connect with their customers and build relationships.

How?

By doing things that don't make sense from a revenue perspective, such as spending ten hours and 43 minutes on a call with a customer to talk about sneakers (true story), they show to their clients that they chose their value “Deliver WOW Through Service” first, and their profits second. 

In the long term, choosing value over profits can pay off big time; Zappos’s success is legendary and the company was purchased by Amazon for almost one Billion.

But in the short term, it literally feels like you are bending the path between your company and its profit. 

It’s counterintuitive. This isn’t something you usually learn at the university or that you can steal from a playbook. 

That’s the reason why so few companies are able to pull this off. 

And this is how your company values can turn into a formidable competitive advantage. (remember the intro?)  

Product vs brand differentiation, are you betting on the wrong horse?

Most companies' differentiation strategies are product based. 

At first, this approach seems logical: Compared on a spreadsheet, it’s obvious how much your product differs from your competitors.

But in the eyes of customers, it’s quite the opposite. 

Faster, easier, cheaper… Most companies in any given category claim the same benefits. This results in a competitive landscape filled with look-alike product descriptions. 

In other words, your product fades into the crowd instead of standing out. 

Done right, company values allow you to reposition your differentiation strategy: from the product level to the brand level. 

It's like adding a new dimension to your product: 

The differentiation factor shifts from the product itself to the experience surrounding it.

In short, you stop grinding head to head with competitors and you turn a boring business (like selling shoes online) into an exciting experience people want to be part of. 

Ok, I’m sold. How should I go about it? 

You’ve made it this far (I appreciate your time!), now you probably have one important question in mind:

“How do I create values for my company”?

As we discussed, the most critical element is to have company values that are perceived as credible.

However, this isn’t all you need to succeed. 

I’ve identified four additional principles behind successful company values. 

Let’s start with the most important one.

Legendary writer Stephen King said: «don’t write for an audience, write for your ideal reader ». 

Most company values out there aren’t written for their ideal readers. 

In fact, they aren’t even written for the correct audience.

Companies' successes rely on their capacity to attract customers, yet most businesses write values for their… employees.

You know, the usual “Think out of the box”, “Be humble”, “Lead by example”, etc.

And I get that. 

Companies want to show employees and future hires what is expected from them, hoping that in return, their clients will be impressed. 

Let me use another example from Zappos to illustrate why this doesn’t work.  

Have you heard about Zappos’ value “Do More With Less”? 

Probably not. 

Because as a customer, you only care about what’s in it for you. 

And this is why Zappos is known worldwide for its customer service and NOT for the capacity of its employees to do more with less.

Most companies confuse values (for customers), and culture (for employees). It’s not that there isn’t room for both, or that they can’t complement each other, but they certainly shouldn’t be written for the same audience.

You need to think about your ideal customer and find out what he or she cares about, then build your values around that.

Next, let’s talk numbers. 

Zappos has ten company values. But again, you probably knew only one. 

Too often, companies write their values like an overcrowded to-do list. You know, the one where you add unnecessary stuff like “drink water” or “walk the dog”.

Don’t dilute your values, instead, choose a few, or even one, but make it count.

Next, when creating values, avoid looking up to market leaders to find inspiration. Not only does this jeopardise your capability to differentiate, but it also neglects one fundamental principle:

Market leaders already have at least one competitive advantage - everyone knows them - hence they can get away with vanilla brand values. 

And here comes the last principle: 

Do you still remember the second value from Zappos I mentioned earlier? 

Probably not. 

Even if you do remember (well done), imagine you wanted to discuss the takeaways from this article with a friend, what would naturally come to mind:

Zappos value “Do More With Less” or the story about some of their employees staying up to 10 hours on a phone call? 

You’ve probably picked the latter. This is because, to be memorable, company values need to take root within a story. 

In short, don’t boil down your core values into a few bullet points. While this can certainly be a satisfying writing exercise, it deprives your customers of the story behind your value. 

And stories are exciting to share... 

Speaking of stories, the reason why I decided to write this article stem from a frustrating situation that happened to me at work. When my CEO decided we should create company values, I knew there was a better way to go about it. But I hadn’t reflected enough on the topic hence I failed to convince him of my perspective about company values. 

Hopefully this article will make it easier for you.

Let’s wrap it up

As Peep would say, there have never been as many brands as there are today. It's harder than ever to get attention from potential customers. 

Companies are investing large sums of money to differentiate themselves from their competitors, yet they write vanilla values that could be copy-pasted for any company.

Does every company need to invest in credible values?

No.

If you are a market leader or if you operate in a low competition market, you probably have better things to focus on.

But if it feels like you are fighting tooth and nail with competitors, you probably want to maximise the chances to differentiate your business.

Remember, if your values aren’t credible you won’t be able to leverage them as a competitive advantage. 

Zappos commits to its value “Deliver WOW Through Service” by using the money they would otherwise spend on advertising, to create the best customer experience possible. 

Ritz Carlton commits to its value “I own and immediately resolve guest problems.” by allowing its employees to spend up to USD 2’000 to rescue a guest's experience. 

Patagonia commits to its value “build the best products” (I.e. goods that last for generations or can be recycled) by offering customers to repair their Patagonia clothes for free and by taking them back for recycling when they are no longer usable. 

In short, these companies are trading short term profits for the long term reward of building highly differentiated brands that stand out for their values. 

This requires vision and courage. 

Few companies can pull this off, and this is why the ones that do stand out so much. 

So here are my three questions for you:

• What value(s) would be the most beneficial for your customers? 
• Amongst these values, which one(s) would set you apart from your competitors?
• And how will you show your commitment to them? 

Enjoy the journey.