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BJ Bueno

Core Values, Passion, and Happiness

Happiness is really just about four things: perceived control, perceived progress, connectedness, and vision/meaning. —Tony Hsieh

This reminds me of a (possibly apocryphal) story I heard about a shoe company back in the 1800s that sent a couple of their employees to a distant land for a month to scout the region and determine the market opportunity there. One of the employees came back and said, “Nobody there wears shoes! There’s no opportunity there!” The other employee came back a week later and said, “Nobody there wears shoes! There’s so much opportunity there!”Tony Hsieh¹

Like many people in the business world, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Tony Hsieh last week. Not only did I have a lot of respect for Tony, but I was fortunate to call him a friend.

If you ever met Tony, you’d know he was definitely like the second employee in the story he recounted. Tony saw potential everywhere, not just in businesses, but also in people. Whether it was empowering Zappos employees to pursue their passion projects or listening to an artist friend around a campfire in the yard near his airstream, Tony saw possibility where others would just see half-baked ideas.

December 1, 2020 by BJ Bueno

Eight Steps to Build Brand Loyalty

To build brand loyalty, serve your best customers better than your competitors do.

Here are eight steps you can take to begin building brand loyalty.

Step 1: Focus on your best customers

Build your business around your best customers—what we call Brand Lovers—instead of trying to aimlessly drive sales. Over time, your return on marketing and innovation efforts will rise.

November 23, 2020 by BJ Bueno

Putting the Cult Back into Culture

supportive cultures facilitate personal freedom and foster positive growth.

If someone told you your company is a cult, how would you take it?

Instead of getting offended, you may want to feel a sense of pride. It all depends on how you look at cults and the role they play in creating your corporate culture.

November 16, 2020 by BJ Bueno

Finding the Heart in Leadership

The better you understand yourself, the better you can understand your customers and employees.

Your customers are human beings. Your employees are human beings. And yes, you are human too.

But what does it mean to be human?

As humans, we are conscious of certain names, dates, memories, beliefs, concepts, and aspects of our identity.

This collection of details are all above the surface. They are available to our conscious minds, retrievable by our thinking brains.

Below the surface, however, a vast reservoir of energy and instincts exists of which humans are not aware. Psychology calls this subterranean the subconscious mind and the unconscious mind.

November 9, 2020 by BJ Bueno

7 Questions to Better Understand Your Customers

Businesses that succeed in the long-term have leaders with a long-term perspective. They have an inspired vision. They can see the latent potential in their people and within the enterprise itself.

The customer is vital to the actualization of this vision. Ideally, the customer is at the heart of it.

November 2, 2020 by BJ Bueno

Harness The Power of Story

“Good morning city!”

Emmet Brickowski was a construction worker, your everyday guy. He followed printed instructions on how to fit in, have everyone like him, and always be happy.

But Emmet had a greater destiny: to become a Master Builder. Master Builders don’t have to follow instructions. Inspired by others, they create from what’s inside of them.

If you don’t know Emmet, you may have heard of The Lego Movie. The Lego Movie premiered in February 2014, grossing $468 million worldwide at the box office.

October 26, 2020 by BJ Bueno

How to Hook Your Customers

Your job isn’t to create needs for your customers. Your job is to make your customers aware of their existing needs.

Your job isn’t to create needs for your customers. Customers—humans—do a fine job of that on their own.

Your job is to make your customers aware of their existing needs. When you do this successfully, you trigger motivation in your customers. This motivation leads your customers to take action.

October 19, 2020 by BJ Bueno

A Big Mistake Most Retailers Make

Experiences are more meaningful than things.

A customer named Lisa walks into your store.

As she roams the aisles, her eyes gaze at an endless sea of colors and forms. She isn’t overwhelmed; she’s accustomed to endless choice.

Her mind is elsewhere. Something her daughter asked her this morning amuses her. She feels joy. Now she wonders if her husband kissed her before he left for work. A feeling of disconnection comes and goes.

October 12, 2020 by BJ Bueno

Beyond Loyalty Programs: 5 Ways to Create Loyal Customers

Tim works down the street. He rushes into your store. Late for a meeting, he stepped into a puddle after lunch and his damp socks are bothering him.

He grabs the first pair of black mens dress socks he finds, pays for them, and hustles back to work.

Sandra takes a trip to your store after work. It’s her friend’s birthday and she needs the right gift. She always finds what she needs at your store.

Tim and Sandra are both your customers. They both contribute to your bottom line. But only one of them will lead to long-term profitability in up and down markets.

October 5, 2020 by BJ Bueno

7 Insights CEOs Need to Know About Their Customers

We now have access to limitless customer data.

But for business leaders who are committed to knowing their customer, the numbers alone will never be enough.

Why? Because human beings aren’t statistics.

September 28, 2020 by BJ Bueno

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