PEAK potential
June 2, 2009 • 3:56 pm • POSTED BY lhendler
“Book Report of PEAK, by Zappos employees”
About a month ago, a few of us went to the College of Physicians to celebrate Cultural Alliance Day, and to learn more about the current state of cultural institutions in Philadephia. We had the pleasure of listening to Chip Conley speak about his book PEAK: How Great Companies Get Thier Mojo Back, which documents his management philosophy stemming from his research of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid. It is through Conley’s research and own experiences in his company Joie de Vivre, a collection of unique niche boutique hotels in California, that he creates his own pyramids relating to business management. Well, technically they are triangles, but I won’t get hung up on semantics. It comes as no surprise that one of my favorite companies from a corporate culture and customer service perspective, Zappos, is not only familiar with this book, but has created a visual book report to highlight the key concepts found within it.
The crux of Conley’s theory comes down to this: Maslow’s theory of human motivation serves numerous purposes when extrapolated into different areas such as customer motivation and employee motivation, and these practices can be utilized to build consumer loyalty and therefore brand loyalty. If you think in terms of Maslow’s pyramid:
The ultimate goal is self-actualization, however each level of the pyramid cannot be achieved until the baser needs are satisfied. In one of Chip’s pyramids the same theory is applied:
At a bare minimum, employees and consumers, as well as stakeholders, vendors, etc., need the base needs of meeting expectations in order to create the bare minimum of satisfaction. For a hotel, this could mean clean sheets, and an air conditioner that works. However, to create loyalty, the hotel must exceed basic expectations and perform at a more desirable level (i.e. serving delicious food, excellent customer service, etc.). The real challenge, which can only be met after reaching both expectations and desires, is to meet the needs a consumer was not even aware of. That is the true challenge, being one step ahead of a consumer’s thought process in order to anticipate any potential enhancement possible. It is through this level of satisfaction, that your consumer becomes an Evangelist for your brand. They are converts that will likely always maintain loyalty as long as expectations are consistently met in this manner.
These principles may not be earth shattering, and are far from new, but they do remind us that if we continue to focus on exceeding expectations a potential consumer does not even know they have yet, it seems like a good bar to set.