Why Your Company Should be Made of Windows Instead of Walls
Transparency has become a buzzword as the social media revolution has disrupted the old ways of doing business. It is no longer acceptable to hide business activities behind walls by concealing company operations and keeping employees and customers apart. Under that obscure model, business leaders cannot expect to attain people who will like and trust them, or who will return to do business with them again.
Your brand is either ubiquitous or invisible in the world of social media. Part of that ubiquity is allowing your audience to see and know candidly the personality and performance of your company. Where yesterday’s companies succeeded, despite having informational fortresses, today’s companies are fully exposed by social media and growing, despite being out in the open. There is nothing to hide when a core part of a company’s business strategy is to do the right things to serve their customers and their bottom line at the same time.
You’ve probably heard of Zappos. They are a shoe company that has dominated their market. They have over 200 employees, all of whom tweet on Twitter as part of their daily job responsibilities (including CEO, Tony Hsieh). In nine years they went from zero to $1 billion in sales, and – according to Mr. Hsieh – the No. 1 driver of that growth has been repeat customers and word-of-mouth advertising.
