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  • Care is a big word

    Posted on February 9th, 2010 by Spike and currently 6 commenting.

    This blog post was inspired by a with Kira Wampler, Word of Mouth/Social Marketing Leader at Intuit Inc.

    What do I care? Why should I care? What do your customers care about?

    For the company that doesn’t, “care” is a four-letter word. For the company that does, “care” is a big word. Huge even. Because when you care, emotion enters into the equation. For some companies, emotion is a scary thing. Because emotion doesn’t show up as a line-item on a P&L report. Emotion can make things very sticky. And emotion is unpredictable.

    But caring can be your greatest asset. Because when you allow your employees to care about their jobs, care about what happens to their fellow employees and care about their customers, there’s a shift in culture. I guarantee that when you walk in the doors of a company or have your first interaction with them online, you can tell the difference between a company that cares and a company that doesn’t care.

    Yes, we all care about the bottom line. Because, like the Tequila Shots book says, we can’t make a difference if we cease to exist. But that’s a different kind of caring. I’m talking about the caring that comes when the times get tough. The kind of caring that comes with making sure you’re doing everything within your power to solve a person’s problem - even if they are a chronic complainer. And the caring that comes from believing that your customer’s success is your success.

    So if you don’t care, then it’s going to be obvious to your employees and customers. And since love (or the lack of it) is a circular transaction, guess what? I guarantee that they aren’t going to care about you either. And good luck with that.

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6 Responses to “Care is a big word”

  1. TTaxChristine (Christine Morrison) February 9th, 2010 at 10:35 am

    Twitter Comment


    @Kirasw Look at you, inspiring blog posts: [link to post]

    - Posted using Chat Catcher

  2. Kira Wampler February 9th, 2010 at 10:37 am

    Spike - excellent post, not least because I inspired it! :)

    Seriously though…caring is absolutely critical particularly in the world of complexity and loneliness that small business owners face. If we don’t care about their success, we won’t be successful.

  3. Carla Bobka February 9th, 2010 at 11:14 am

    Spike and Kira, you’re speaking my language with the line “believing that your customer’s success is your success.” That is my personal business philosophy and how I approach every customer I’ve had for the past 10 years. When I help them look good, they find a way to make me look good. I’ve rarely been burned. And I am amazed at how many company cultures don’t consider this an asset. It is an intangible, sure. It isn’t on any of the financial statements. And it is the ONLY thing that creates Goodwill. And that is a line on the balance sheet, the one you pay through the nose for. It could be that there is financial resentment for the goodwill line item, since it means you paid a premium, who knows.

  4. CarlaBobka (Carla Bobka) February 9th, 2010 at 11:17 am

    Twitter Comment


    Personal biz philosophy in here. Thx Spike. Care is a big word [link to post]

    - Posted using Chat Catcher

  5. mandaleebee (Amanda Butterworth) February 9th, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    Twitter Comment


    Care is a Big Word (via @brainsonfire) [link to post] - advice every company should live by

    - Posted using Chat Catcher

  6. eric February 11th, 2010 at 6:47 pm

    well said bro. caring builds personal and corporate character!

    caring = character

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