Does your business have a mission, which goes above and beyond making money and profit? The savviest of companies use their mission to build their brand. They never falter in their unwavering commitment to develop their brand around their unique mission.
One highly reputable business magnate who has successfully built a brand around a mission, is Carl Daikeler, CEO and co-founder of Beachbody.
Daikeler and his co-founder Jon Congdon created Beachbody is 1998. Congdon is now President and Chief Marketing Officer of Beachbody and helps drive the company’s mission to help people achieve their goals and enjoy a healthy, fulfilling life.
The California-based company has gone on to be a leading resource of home fitness and nutrition tools, providing top weight-loss solutions, such as P9OX, Insanity and 21 Day Fix.
Through the Team Beachbody Coach Network, it is Daikeler’s aspiration to generate the largest community of peer support related to health and fitness in the world.
Beachbody’s approach to fitness and its mission to help people achieve their fitness goals, has meant it has attracted the support of millions of satisfied customers.
Building a Brand Around a Mission
Small Business Trends caught up with Daikeler, who provided 10 inspiring tips for building a brand around a mission.
Make It About the Results
According to Daikeler, it’s not about the brand, it’s about the results.
“I’ve often seen charities — which should be the MOST mission-driven organizations — be more about their brand than they are about the RESULTS of their efforts. Such a waste,” said Daikeler.
Beachbody is helping people get healthy and fit and its co-founder and CEO says the brand doesn’t matter unless people are getting better results with the company’s combination of fitness, nutrition and peer support than any other solution.
Align Staff and Management on the Mission
Daikeler also advises businesses building their brand around a mission to ensure staff and management are aligned to the mission. Though the successful fitness mogul warns it’s not always easy to do this:
“Keeping the finance and operations department aligned on the mission isn’t easy. They hear about the mission and think ‘Yeah, right. So about the profits.’ You need to make sure decisions are made that do not contradict the mission in every area of the business.”
Train Salespeople Not to Sell but to Solve Problems
Daikeler advises businesses to think in the longer term, about the relationship they are starting with the customer and stand behind what they promise. At Beachbody, the company aggressively trains people not to sell, but to help solve a problem.
“’I’m not here to convince you. I’m here to help you.’ Salesmanship cannot be about the numbers,” warns Daikeler.
Commit and Deliver on Your Promises
The Beachbody co-founder and CEO says when building a brand around a mission, businesses should commit and deliver on their promises.
“We promise to help people get healthier and lose weight in a specific period of time. If we don’t achieve the promise, we either give people their money back, or preferably find a way to better serve them on what we promised,” says Daikeler, advising other businesses to stick to their mission’s promises.
Know That It Will Be Hard
“Everything is hard and there’s always competition,” Daikeler says. But Beachbody knew creating solutions to get people results would force them to actually workout with intensity, and it would require them to admit “cheap nutritional supplements” are worthless.
Other businesses should know it will be hard but realize that quality matters.
“But it’s hard to sell the real thing in a sea of charlatans. It’s hard. But we handle it,” the health and fitness mogul commented.
Treat People with Respect and Be Courageously Forthright
Another point Daikeler shared in his tips on building a brand around a mission, is to always treat people with respect and be “courageously forthright.”
Daikeler cautions a mission to solve a problem plaguing society for so long — like weight loss — will come with pitfalls. There is no template for success, which is why the problem still exists.
Daikeler advises businesses to admit mistakes, treat customers with respect and make it right “100 percent of the time.”
Improve Everything
Daikeler also recommends businesses should keep improving and stay committed to serving the mission.
“As we peel back the layers of the onion, we see that there is no silver bullet. There’s always a next best thing,” says Daikeler.
Beachbody breaks successful business models — when necessary — to better serve the mission. That’s why, for example, the company created Beachbody On Demand, recognizing that DVDs are dead.
Observe What Works
According to Daikeler, other successful businesses leave clues on how to promote and influence with less mission-oriented initiatives. While the missions may be different, the strategies and tactics can be similar, and businesses should pay attention to everything, observing what works.
Work with Passion and Enthusiasm
“If your passion to live up to the promise of your mission doesn’t burn hot, you will drift when the going gets tough (And it will get tough. Guaranteed),” Daikeler warns.
Businesses should find a way to “keep their fire stoked.” In order to achieve this, Daikeler says he listens to customer success stories and hunts for Beachbody’s own weaknesses — a process he never stops!
Care
Finally, all businesses need to care, Daikeler advises.
“Our mission to help people achieve their health and fitness goals strikes a very sensitive nerve for many people. Throughout the company we make it a point, whether they are staff, management, vendors, reps, or customers, we care about their experience when it comes to our company,” Daikeler told Small Business Trends.
Other businesses should do the same, he says, as caring is all part of the mission.
If you have any experiences or success stories on building a brand around a mission, feel free to share them with us.
Image: Carl Daikeler