Summary: You may not know the name Chip Conley but, if you've ever stayed in the San Francisco Bay area, you may have frequented one of his hotels. As Founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, Conley runs the second largest boutique hotel company in the world. And, if that doesn't suggest that we could learn a thing or two from his experience, keep in mind that all those hotels are in the Bay Area, meaning Conley and his team had to survive not only 9/11 and the impact it had on tourism, but almost simultaneously managed the dot-com bubble burst as well. Conley's book Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow, is a fascinating read that takes Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and superimposes it on the business landscape, specifically identifying how it impacts customers, employees and investors in our "get anything, anytime", online driven world. The book draws from Conley's own experience, and uses colorful and poignant examples to validate his belief that while we definitely need to cover our customers (and employees!) base needs when they engage with us, the competitive landscape in which we play requires us to look beyond basics if we want to encourage loyal evangelists. Golden Egg What else? "Our economy is rapidly changing from a money economy to a satisfaction economy." Martin Seligman, as quoted in Peak, page 54 When Seligman made the comment (as quoted in Peak), he was referring to employees. If we assume that there are enough jobs out there for the top performers that we want to attract, (and there are always enough positions for those with the right talent and attitude), then we need to acknowledge that throwing an extra couple grand on their compensation package may not be enough to build loyalty these days. For those unfamiliar (and those who just need a refresher), let's review Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Maslow suggests that there are five levels to our human desires. When a certain level is unsatisfied, we will focus on that level until it becomes satisfied. At that point, we will naturally look for stimulation and satisfaction on the next level. For a long time, we got by professionally focusing really only on the bottom level - fulfilling basic needs. We paid our employees just enough that they could survive, and we provided products that were of adequate quality at a reasonable price, so people would continue to buy them. The key idea, for many years and for many companies was "just enough". The Internet has killed that. Employees (the good ones) have more options than ever before, as do our customers. Yes, we need to pay our people competitively. And yes, we need to provide high quality products at a competitive price. But those things just get us in the game now. If we want to thrive, as business owners and/or team leaders, we need to start thinking up. Up the pyramid. Up from the muck of covering the basics needs, through the space of providing recognition and meeting desires, and into the rarefied air of providing meaning and meeting unrecognized needs. Relationship Truth Pyramids copied from PEAK and reprinted under international copyright laws GEM # 1 Define Your Pyramid(s) "Virtually any well-known company that has created an evangelistic customer base could draw its own pyramid." Peak, page 149 One of the most widely recognized tattoos is the Harley Davidson logo. Tattoo. Logo. We see it so often, we take it for granted. I own a Volkswagen Jetta, but I'm not about to get the VW permanently emblazoned on my body. Why? Because VW's a car company and, despite the fact that they make great bikes, Harley Davidson is simply more. And they've created that "more" patiently and deliberately. Harley makes great bikes, satisfying the lower level "needs". But they don't stop there. Harley also created the "Harley's Owner Group" (H.O.G.) - an opportunity for their customers to connect with one another and build relationships,
