Every business wants to be more successful. We all are pursuing the golden ring on the carousel of entrepreneurship and enterprise. And we should! If you are like me you are always looking for anything that will help you get there. That often leads to a frivolous and often futile pursuit of the latest fad, social network gimmick, or whatever is causing the latest buzz. Let me assure you that BVA is not that. BVA is a return to basics that are often overlooked or lost in the concentrated activity of trying to climb the mountain. The sobering reality is that when we lose sight of BVA we are missing the roots that are meant give our enterprise its strength and stamina.
We often think of BVA as being largely hidden; part of the corporate structure and understanding, but not all that visible. When in truth your BVA is evident to everyone you come in contact with. All stakeholders are aware of your BVA, especially your customers. And what they see determines their loyalty to your product or service.
So what is BVA? Well, let’s start with following quote I picked up at a business gathering a few years ago.
“Key to consistently increasing productivity, increasing employee satisfaction and retention, increased customer satisfaction and retention; and being able to charge a premium for your product or service – learn to verbalize your beliefs and drive those beliefs through values to actions, training, policies, and procedures.”
What this anonymous speaker so eloquently put into words are some very basic truths that drive every enterprise of man; Beliefs, Values and Actions. All we do originates in what we believe. Our values are formed by our beliefs, and our actions are the acting out of our values and beliefs.
Now before you dismiss “Beliefs” as a religious term, let me assure you that everything you do is rooted in some sort of “Belief”. When you sit on a chair you believe that it will hold together and support your weight, you value being able to sit, and acting upon both that belief and value you sit down!
What about when it comes to business? Well, it starts with what you believe about yourself. Do you believe that you are supposed to be in business? Do you believe you can make a living doing what you are doing and that you have a product or service that adds value? If you don’t believe these things, your odds of success go way down.
Here are some other areas of belief that impact business – beliefs about:
• What customers want
• What customers deserve
• How business should be run
• Employee – employer relationships
• Human nature
• Religious/spiritual beliefs
• About competitors
The list goes on and on, but I think these are enough to communicate the importance and role of “Belief” in business.
Based on what you believe about the various topics above you will draw up your corporate vision and values. Virtually every company I have ever known or worked with has some sort of vision and values statement, often right on their website or Facebook page. Sadly sometimes when I have done corporate training it comes out that no one, not even the principals can as much as paraphrase what those statements say! What this indicates is 1. Someone hasn’t done a very good job communicating. 2. These public statements may not be a true reflection of the core beliefs of the enterprise. Be sure of this – you will never escape what you believe. It will come out. If you say for example in your corporate value statement that the customer comes first, and yet you believe otherwise; guess what? You and your employees will end up acting out of your core beliefs, not the values statement.
Actions, corporate or personal will always flow out of what is believed and valued. To do otherwise would be a counterfeit and would not hold up long term. While we have all seen situations where insincerity has pulled the wool over people’s eyes for a season, the truth always ultimately comes to light. The examples in business, politics, show biz, and life are too numerous to mention. And even then, what we discover is what these individuals believed – they were above the law, they would not get caught, etc. That is particularly tragic when the individuals/institutions involved had peoples’ trust. You certainly don’t want to run your business that way.
