It started at the Oil Palace in Tyler, Texas.
It was a whirlwind year of sweaty men, crystal-covered speedos and crappy concert food.
I traveled to new places and met great new friends. Yes, for a year I traveled the U.S. going to WWE professional wrestling matches. What interesting and awesome memories!
Now, no one sat me down and said, “WWE has a specific culture built around three major principles of blah, blah and blah.”
Observation built my perception of the WWE culture… as a customer.
Regardless of what culture mission statement they have hanging in the corporate offices in Stamford, CT, I learned over the course of the year what the culture was like out on the roads, at small events with no TV, live TV events in large cities, and two WrestleMania events.
Your company culture is probably different from the culture of WWE, but there are valuable lessons from my year of WWE.
You need to take a hard look at the reality of your company culture.
Not the culture you think you have. That you intended to have.
What you actually have today.
Get in the ring now.
Your company culture is important for building your team of employees, attracting and retaining good people.
Culture also affects your customers.
Your fans. Your spectators.
The people watching your team handle a screaming client. The people listening to the receptionist schedule a meeting.
Your culture is your brand turned inward.
Your brand is your culture turned outward.
Your brand and your culture are linked.
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:
- How I ended up traveling the U.S. to see WWE matches several years ago.
- Three positives and one negative observation about culture based on my year of WWE.
- Why you need to take a hard look at the reality of your company culture today.
Complete Your Workwork:
I encourage you to complete a more comprehensive audit of your culture and how your team communicates with each other and your customers.
Don’t stress. Let’s start small.
For the next week, I want you to do a quick check on a few basic ways your team is communicating with customers.
- Call your office receptionist or executive admin to listen to what the greeting is like. How do they handle a call.
- Call your customer service line and listen to how a call is run.
- Evaluate how YOU answer the phone.
- Listen to voicemail messages for key team members (or all team members if you have a small team).
- Listen to your own voicemail message.
- Look at what your team has in their email signatures.
Then make changes as needed. Set a standard for how your team should answer the phone. A standard way to set up email signatures. Standard message for voicemail recording messages. Of course, these are small tasks, but they are a great way to start.
You can still encourage employees to put their own personality into their messages, but give them guidance on how they need to project your culture and your brand.
Set your employees up to succeed.
Let me know what you learned in the comments below.
Oh, here is a video of the personal brand I talk about in this episode. Wish I could have been in that marketing meeting!
The spit heard around the world starts at 2:55. Why is it so captivating?!
Thank You For Listening!
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Listen to this Episode
Play episode 005 of Create Your Culture below:
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