Businesses spend a lot of time and money on the look of their brand (logo, images, colors) and the sound of their brand (vision, mission, content). Most businesses struggle with how to build the feel, the experience of their brand. At Together, we have a 5-part framework that allows business leaders to create meaningful brand experiences for their customers.
We believe the first customer is the employee.
Business magnate and international philanthropist, Sir Richard Branson says, “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”
Feedback I often hear from people about their professional lives is that they are fearful to share ideas. They are scared to fail. They feel excluded and constantly compared to others. To protect themselves, they silo away from the group and burrow into the social rejection they feel.
What these experiences tell us but what employees, the first customer, might never say is that they want to feel like they belong. Research completed in 2008 by Dr. Eisenberger and Dr. Liberman at the University of California proved that our brains actually feel this kind of rejection or lack of belonging as physical pain.
I experienced the same pain while working at one of the largest non-profits in the world and left within the year because I could not see how I belonged within my team. Instead of searching for this feeling of belonging with another company, I founded my own company, Together, to study and teach patterns about the best way to build meaningful brand experiences where people feel they belong.
What I’ve discovered, is that belonging is a prerequisite to trust.
Successful businessman and author, Stephen Covey, said “Business moves at the speed of trust.”
Trust is what allows us to build connections with other people. And it is those connections that ultimately give meaning to our lives, as TEDx phenomenon and shame researcher, Brene Brown says.
Connection and relationships are what hold the mechanism of business together. What businesses miss is how to build that trust. That is where Together’s 5-part framework comes in.
When a company takes Together’s 5-part framework and applies it, trust grows, connections deepen, and creativity and innovation thrive. Together not only wants to help businesses transform, we want to help renovate experiences within non-profits, faith communities, and schools. We are already in conversations with one faith community about how to apply our 5-part framework. We hope to offer one pro-bono teaching experience to a non-profit for every ten businesses we serve.
Our passion is to spread this message and give business leaders the tools to build belonging for their customers. One way we would like to do this is by connecting with professional groups on LinkedIn. LinkedIn ProFinder will be an invaluable tool for us to position our team as THE expert on creating meaningful brand experiences.
If you know any ways we can help serve your business, your community, your favorite non-profit, and school. Please contact me at cbaker@enjoytogether.com.
