The “WE” moment

Posted on October 27th, 2009 by Spike and currently 6 commenting.

Have you ever noticed when a company screws you over, it’s always what “they” did to you? They didn’t come on time. They messed up my order. They have no idea what they are doing. It’s “us” and “them.”

(As a quick aside, Geno once pointed out to me that a lot of old school Southerners – who think it’s impolite to criticize people – will say that “I don’t know them” if they nothing good to say about someone.)

But when we feel a part of something bigger than ourselves, it’s no longer “they.” It’s “we.” Think about your favorite sports team. You watch the game and then talk about it with fellow fans. What word do you use? More than likely, it’s “we.” “We played great.” Or even, “we sucked.” And then there’s the good ol’ “We’re number one!”

This also happens with companies and brands. When you’re doing it right – and by doing it right I mean opening the kimono and including your fans in everything you do – you begin to create a culture of “we.”

But WHEN does that happen for you? When do you cross over and start using the “we” instead of the “me” and “them?” What makes it happen? Is it a defining moment? Or an eventual move towards it?

But what I really think is that maybe we should stop trying to figure out how to get our customers to get into the “we” mentality and start trying to figure out how to get ourselves into a “we” metality. We need to embrace them before they embrace us. Only then can we start doing business like we’re all in this together.