The Key to Expanding Your Brand's Potential
Let’s talk about shopping. Do you tend to shop exclusively in one store? Are you loyal to one retailer? One brand? One designer? Or like most of us, do you shop anywhere you can find your favorite lipstick, dress or T-shirt?
One of the biggest challenges for retailers today is obtaining customer loyalty. How do you retain the customers you already have, while at the same time attracting new ones? Gone are the days when retailers exclusively owned a person’s loyalty. In today’s competitive environment most retailers and brands are actively trying to figure out ways to grab that customer and divert their attention away from the competitive landscape.
As a founding managing director of an executive search firm, I advise my clients that it’s beneficial to replicate that same marketing openness when hiring people within their own company. Wasn’t it Einstein who said that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity? This concept needs to be applied first on a micro level so there can be long-term, successful macro effects. In order to maintain customer loyalty, you need to think progressively. The best way to be a pioneer or visionary in your industry is for your employees to lay claim and draw inspiration from a myriad of experiences.
Like Me, Like You
Most organizations tend to hire people who have experiences with other companies that are similar to their own. While it's natural that a company would prefer a candidate to have a comparable professional “upbringing,” it's important not to discount executives who have experiences in other concentrations, industries or locations.
If an organization continuously hires individuals from the same background again and again, the executive ranks become diluted versions of one another — much like the results of inbreeding. Bold thinking and an openness to learn new things is part of the solution. You’re not surprised that your customer buys shoes at Neiman Marcus, but goes to Target to buy bathing suits. Why can’t you be that open when hiring new employees?
From Apples to Penneys
Take Apple for example. Some wouldn’t think of the household brand as a luxury company, but Apple just so happens to outsell prestigious Tiffany & Co. on a retail sales per-square-foot basis. Ron Johnson, former head of Apple stores, was the man behind Apple’s retail operations’ meteoritic expansion and rise. Johnson recently decided to leave Apple for J.C. Penney, where he was named CEO.
While Johnson previously worked at Target, he has no former apparel merchandising experience. J.C. Penney recognized that while Johnson can’t check this box off, by working at Target and then in consumer electronics at Apple, his experience is heavily retail driven — a skill set that's transferrable to any industry. This is a prime example of a company looking elsewhere to hire, choosing someone with a background seemingly quite dissimilar from its own.
From Nike to HSN
Need another example? Take a look at Mindy Grossman. A global vice president at Nike, Grossman left the athletic apparel retailer to become CEO of HSN. While both companies may be retail focused, they're extremely diverse.
Hiring individuals because they fit your corporate culture is one thing; hiring executives because they share similar resumes and backgrounds is quite different. Having a diversity of experience in your corporation is extremely important. It allows the entrance of fresh perspectives and ideas to pass through your walls and emerge as new concepts on the sales floor.
Kate Benson is the founding and managing partner at Martens & Heads!. Kate can be reached at kate@maxinemartens.com.
