Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Well, hello everyone
and welcome to Scott's Thoughts.
I'm Scott Benedict, you know.
One of the things I wasthinking about the other day was
the fact that during my timeteaching retailing at Texas A&M
University's Center forRetailing Studies, I was really
struck by the fact that at TexasA&M they subscribe to a series
of core values, not just withinthe business school but across
(00:32):
the university, that I thoughtat the time and was reminded
about recently, really have alot of interesting application
in retail, and I wanted to sharea few thoughts on that.
First of all, if you don't know, if you're not familiar with
Texas A&M, aggies live by aseries of six core values, and
those core values are respect,excellence, leadership, loyalty,
(00:58):
integrity and selfless service.
The university states and I canconfirm that I witnessed this
that their purpose was todevelop leaders of character
dedicated to serving the greatergood, and the students and the
faculty and the members of thatteam there certainly conducted
themselves this way.
(01:19):
What I thought was kind ofinteresting is that these values
aren't just theoretical and notsomething up on a poster, on a
wall, but they're woven into theway that the Aggie community
really embraces in everyday life, how students, faculty alumni
and staff act, communicate andlead.
Once again, there's a lot ofapplicability of those core
(01:43):
values that I found in retailing.
We talked a little bit aboutthis with my students when I
taught there, but let me kind ofwalk through a couple of
thoughts here.
First of all, one of the waysthat the first value respect
manifests itself in retail isthat in retail, valuing every
(02:03):
person that you encounter, everystakeholder, customers, members
of your own team, yoursuppliers, really means creating
an inclusive, welcomingexperience where everyone feels
heard and that mentality, thatway of doing business, really
fosters trust, loyalty and atruly inclusive brain culture,
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and I thought that was veryapplicable in retail.
The second core valueexcellence really Aggies to a
person are driven to excel ineverything they commit
themselves to, always aiming toperform beyond expectations, and
retailing this translates intoconsistently exceeding a
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customer's expectation, whetherthat's through a wonderful
shopping experience, through ahigh-quality product or
providing impeccable service.
The third Agate Core valueleadership is really about
setting an example for yourselfand for others, for your team,
being forward-thinking,courageous and empowering of
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your team.
In a retail context, leadershipmeans investing in your
frontline associates, empoweringthem to take care of and
delight customers, and indriving innovation, never being
satisfied with the status quo,arriving innovation and never
being satisfied with the statusquo.
Fourth, agricorps value loyaltymeans embodying unconditional
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support and a sense of belongingIn retail.
That's a basis for brandloyalty, creating customers that
are faithful to your brand andteams that support a brand's
vision through thick and throughthin, no matter what.
The fifth Aggie core valueintegrity.
Part of the Aggie code of honorthat continues to resonate with
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me is this statement an Aggiedoes not lie, cheat, steal or
tolerate those that do.
This is foundational to themindset that I encountered among
students and alumni and fellowprofessors alike.
Retail really benefits frombeing transparent, accountable
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and honest, and those retailersand those brands who follow that
ethical practices really buildlong-term credibility with
consumers, particularly todaywhen customers have more access
to information and inputs ontheir buying decisions than ever
before.
Last core value selfless service.
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Really, aggies are taught toembrace service without the
expectation of a reward, andretailing this means going
beyond a transaction,anticipating a customer's need,
offering genuine help andbuilding experiences that show
that you care first and foremost, and so there's a lot of
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applicability in the mostsuccessful retailers and
consumer brands, in the thingsthat I learned when I was at
Texas A&M and it occurs to me onan ongoing basis how valuable
and important that is.
So, to kind of summarize, in mymind, the core value of respect
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means empowering your team andtruly listening to the feedback
that you gain from them and fromyour customers.
Excellence means settingambitious goals and having them
being able to be measured inobjective ways, like net
promoter scores or fulfillmentspeeds or store sales growth.
Leadership means providingmentorship to your team,
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training and a work culturewhere innovation thrives.
Loyalty means running loyaltyprograms that genuinely reward a
consumer and help gain feedbackon what they like and don't
like about a product or about aretailer.
Integrity means beingtransparent, owning mistakes
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when they happen and doing rightby your associates and by your
customers.
And selfless service meanscreate surprises, pleasant
surprises, go the extra mile anddo it because it's the right
thing, not because you expectsomething in return.
So these core values, which Ithink were so valuable and one
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of the great benefits of my timeat Texas A&M, have a lot of
applicability into the bestpractices of retail, and I was
reminded of that recently and Ithought I wanted to share that
with the audience.
So thanks for listening.
I'm Scott Benedict.