Human Talk: Why?

Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson

January 22, 2009

Here's a surefire way to start talking to your customers like a real human being in 2009. Hold a company "why" day.

Take time out from the daily grind to question everything you do.

  • Create a safe, honest and open platform for anyone to bring a question to the table.
  • Choreograph the customer experience from start to finish, questioning everything along the way.
  • And for everything that you find along the way that you can't understand or isn't adding value to the organization, cut it out.

This brilliant idea can be credited to Bill Gammell. Here's how he describes it:

“Business as usual” is a load of crap. It leads to too much floating, too much status quo. Do you see it too?

It’s time we abandon ingrained company assumptions and dismiss company urban legends. Time to shed egos, dismantle best practices and stop blindly towing the company line.

It’s time we questioned all our practices, policies, assumptions, creeds, titles and mission statements.

Back to basics? Sure. But it’s more than that. We need to have a day where everyone in the company from janitor to CEO questions “why” we do the things we do and how we do them. Don’t hold back, question it all.

We need to welcome a day of fresh eyes and fresh ideas.

—–

This post is part of the Human Talk series. 

If you would like to contribute your good or bad Human Talk examples, Email me. I’ll accept photos, stories, videos, audio, etc. and give credit where credit is due.

 

Chris Wilson, Marketing Strategist

Chris Wilson

As Vice President of Strategy at Publicis CRMOne and author of Fresh Peel, Chris examines why marketing strategies fail to produce expected growth. Over 20+ years, including 11 years at Oracle advising brands like Harley-Davidson, REI, and The North Face, he has helped executive teams diagnose post-purchase breakdowns. His work connects customer behavior, MarTech capabilities, and business economics to build systems that scale long-term customer value.

Advertisement

More to Explore

Human Talk Brand Connection

Human Talk Is Back

As generative AI drives a “sea of sameness,” brands must rediscover how to cut through the digital noise by prioritizing human connection over mere optimization.

read more...