At 97th Floor we love to talk shop. We also love to talk about pop culture, and you better believe that television tropes are frequent points of discussion. You may have heard of the classic trope known as, A.I. is a crapshoot. It’s the scenario where a supposed perfectly created artificial intelligence rises up, and ultimately leads to humanity's demise — or at the very least ruins someone’s day.
This isn’t a new concept. In fact, it features (in varying degrees) in some of the worlds most well known movies and television franchises: Terminator, The Matrix, Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2001: A Space Odyssey, TRON, Logan’s Run, Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who, and the list continues on until you get to the genteel Pixar classic, WALL-E (I am of course referring to the evil co-pilot robot, not the cute one that saves the world).
If pop culture is any indication, it’s pretty clear that we, as a collective whole, have trust issues when it comes to cold, soulless data. But if that’s the case, then why are marketers so keen on putting the numbers in charge?
Now, don’t get me wrong; I love data. But I have to love data. A digital marketer literally cannot function without data. So when I see “data-driven” on a resume or across an agency’s site, it’s almost like they’re saying nothing at all.
It’s like seeing a pizzeria advertising that they use dough on all of their pizzas. I mean, sure, it’s better than the alternative (although dough-less pizza would be a big hit with the keto crowd). It’s probably just not something that needs to be advertised. It’s a pizzeria; even without being told, we’re already pretty sure that dough is part of the equation.Data and modern marketing are inseparable. So stop bragging about it.
Additionally, I believe there’s a growing flaw in the data-driven mindset, namely that data becomes a dictator in the strategy. But handing over the reigns to analytics programs is exactly how LA got cremated inTerminator, and doing the same thing with marketing strategies is only slightly less careless.
If you’ve ever read a terribly unhelpful blog post, you could probably trace it back to some SEO who saw a valuable long-tail keyword, and then threw together some heavily optimized (but ultimately worthless) dumpster fire of content designed to capture it. Or, if you’ve ever been accosted over email relentlessly asking for a purchase with varying price discounts, it’s probably because the data said that users make purchase after 14.2 emails, which led a marketing automation specialist to believe that hitting you up on a daily basis would make you convert faster.
And yes, obviously analytical insights are invaluable. And strategies built exclusively on data can even work sometimes. But the returns will seldom stack up to what you can get with a flesh-and-blood marketer calling the shots. The point is that data doesn’t run marketing strategy for humans. Humans make campaigns for humans, and we need to keep it that way.
In other words, you never put the robot in charge of the nukes, and you don’t let a spreadsheet do your marketing for you.
The same logic applies to every marketing convention that gets codified as "best practice." Once something earns that label, it belongs to everyone — which means it belongs to no one's advantage. Udi Ledergor, former CMO at Gong and B2B marketing strategist, makes the case that the marketers who win aren't following the consensus — they're the ones who acted before it formed. This short video captures why arriving at a best practice on time is usually arriving too late.
But PJ, you’re in digital marketing. Are you saying you ‘don’t use data?’
No. I’m not saying that I don’t use data. Quite the contrary, we need data. We rely on it — always have, and always will. In fact, let me tell you a story:
In the first version of competitive research I ran at 97th Floor, we collected 43 metrics for each result on the first page of Google, plus the page we were trying to rank.
Don’t worry, I’ll do the math for you: That’s 473 different cells being manually populated. And when I say manually, I really do mean manually. We used 10 different tools to get everything we needed. Metrics ranged from word count, to load time, to followed backlinks, to Google+ shares (do you feel old yet?). A single SERP would take someone 1.5 – 3 hours. Let’s just say I got through a lot of podcasts during this method of competitive research.
And while time consuming, this method of data mining was therapeutic, restful, even invigorating. The process of gathering data by hand was lengthy, but every hour in the trenches saved weeks of bad strategy.
A lot has changed since then at 97th Floor, we’ve scaled that research process into our suite of proprietary software. Now of course we have our competitive research tool (more on that to come later), which lifts all the metrics we need through the glorious use of APIs and some custom formulas. But the core truth, that our data helped us do a better job, remains.
So yeah, we like data. We respect data. We use it and abuse it. But data, all by itself, does not move the needle — like at all. It’s the action you take based on the data that makes all the difference.
I’d be lying if I said that we’re not proud of our new set of proprietary tools that have essentially taken our drawn out processes, and condensed them into something simple, effective, and efficient. But the reason we love these tools so much is because of the time they save us on the front end of a campaign. If we can condense the first week’s worth of data gathering into an afternoon of well coordinated data pulls and analysis, we’re that much further ahead. But we’re certainly not done.
Not all robots are bad. Heck, R2D2 certainly picked up more than his share of the slack. And sure, most of the time data does the heavy lifting.
I remember a relatively recent situation where a newly onboarded client approached us with a keyword they had been struggling with for years. They had a well optimized page for it, the page had many links going to it. On paper they should have been doing better for this keyword.
Once upon a time, that page had been in an above-the-fold position for its SERP. Then it had begun to drop. The client added more copy to the page to counter the dropping ranking. But more copy caused it to drop even further, which suggested to the client that they had to add even more copy. This game of cat and mouse went on until they were off the first page entirely. And that’s where they were when 97th Floor was brought in.
After assessing the situation, we threw the page into our proprietary competitive research tool. Once the data was finished crunching, the answer was obvious. They had vastly over-optimized the page!
When looking at the top 10 results on the front page of Google, the SERP was seeing an average word count of 1,983. But the page our client has built had… any guesses?
17,744 words.
Not characters, words. Oh and the page was using the exact-match keyword more than twice the amount of the average on the SERP.
The data called out a problem. It helped save the day. But the data didn’t come up with the solution.
We got to work crafting a strategy involving everything from keyword usage, to semantic analysis, strategic internal links to alleviate cross page cannibalization, and strategically cutting and reworking sections of the page. Essentially, we deoptimized the page. After the above plan was executed with the client, we saw fruit — jumping from page 2, to spot 2 in less than a week.
I love this story because:
1) The tool saved us a bunch of time upfront on research and on the backend by ensuring we weren’t wasting time reoptimizing what was already too optimized.
2) The SERP data lead us deeper down a very productive rabbit hole; cannibalization, which upon more research, yielded some very actionable tactics.
3) Possibly my favorite, we didn’t have to waste any time and energy on backlinks.
The above story and hundreds before it have happened at 97th Floor. While we can’t function without data, we certainly can’t function with numbers alone. That’s why it’s called digital marketing, not digital analyzing.
That’s why I love this industry. We’re a fun breed of humans that crave and cultivate good data, and then create something bold and beautiful — with or without the data’s support.
I cringe a little when I hear people say, “well, this is what the data says we should do.” I’m sorry did I hear you just imply that this spreadsheet told you to increase your bid strategy? Of course not. What you meant to say was, “I believe we should increase our bid strategy.”
Own that strategy, don’t let data own you.
Don’t be handcuffed by data; have the courage to look beyond surface-level data inferences, and use your own intelligent, problem solving, human brain to figure out the rest. Because, when all is said and done, your clients aren’t interested in hiring a spreadsheet (or even R2D2).
it can be hard to be aware of the human side of the business while also making sure we’re focused on the business side. when people are the happiest and feeling fulfilled and accomplished in their role, it benefits the whole company.
Welcome to the the 97th Floor Mastermind Interview Series where each week we sit down with one of the makers, thought leaders, and visionaries behind the biggest and/or up-and-coming brands around. We talk about everything from business and marketplace insights to personal journeys and successes, to failures and legacy.
In this episode we’re talking to Miranda Barnard, Vice President of Marketing at Vivint Solar, about the marketing value of understanding your audience, creating sharable messaging, recognizing and employing trends, and more. Using personal experiences and insights, Miranda dials in on what it means to provide a great customer experience, how that focus is changing the world of business, and how leadership in business is adapting.
0:10 About Miranda
2:37 Storytelling
4:28 Communicating with authenticity
7:09 Career changes
8:36 About Vivint Solar
14:15 Onboarding
18:11 Leadership style
19:33 Letting people go
23:09 Creating vs recycling content
25:30 What keeps you up at night
26:30 Handling conflict
29:02 Miranda’s legacy
Learn more about Vivint Solar
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[leadership] comes down to who you are and your ability to influence people to do great things.
Welcome to the the 97th Floor Mastermind Interview Series where each week we sit down with one of the makers, thought leaders, and visionaries behind the biggest and/or up-and-coming brands around. We talk about everything from business and marketplace insights to personal journeys and successes, to failures and legacy.
In this episode we’re talking to Kurt Workman, CEO and Co-Founder of Owlet Baby Care, about his own journey to business success. Through personal experiences and insights, Kurt shares how he learned how to turn potential hurdles into valuable educational opportunities.
0:10 About Owlet
2:52 Priorities
5:12 Technology behind Owlet
8:45 Failure
12:10 The startup phase
17:15 Building the company
19:03 Success
23:55 Hiring and firing
28:43 What keeps you up at night
31:15 Pain points with growth
35:55 Kurt’s legacy
Learn more about Owlett
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humility is about confidence. it's about knowing you're enough. it's not better than and it's not less than.
Welcome to the the 97th Floor Mastermind Interview Series where each week sit down with one of the makers, thought leaders and visionaries behind the biggest and/or up-and-coming brands around. We talk about everything from business and marketplace insights to personal journeys, successes, failures and legacy.
In this episode we’re talking to CEO and Co-Founder of Homie, Johnny Hanna. Homie is a platform where you can buy or sell your home online without an agent. In this interview, we talk about building a blue ocean within an old industry. Johnny shares his insight about educating on a new offering in a marketplace, scaling and living on the spectrum of “less than” and “better than.” We dive into the meaning of failure and what work-life balance really means. Let’s jump in!
0:10 Building a blue ocean
3:45 All about Johnny
6:15 Mentoring and giving back
6:56 What is Homie?
11:20 Educating on a new offering in a marketplace
12:43 Scaling requires education, data and nailing the “it factor”
18:18 The spectrum of “less than” and “better than”
22:23 Finding good fits within a team
24:33 Work-life harmony and defining seasons of business
28:53 What keeps Johnny up at night
30:00 Failure and solving one problem at a time
39:00 Johnny’s legacy
Learn more about Homie
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What’d you think of the episode? The conversation continues in the comments below. Be sure to leave your insights.
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Picking an agency partner is scary.
If marketing were a jungle with wild bloodthirsty beasts and treacherous weather conditions, picking the right guide would mean life or death. In a similar sense, the success of your brand — and maybe even your job — depends on picking the right marketing guide, and you’ve been burned in the past. If your agency screws up, you’re on the chopping block. It’s easy to see why you might feel tense.
You know your business well, and you know where you want to go. On the proverbial marketing journey, you wonder if it would be easier to just grab a field guide and a map and embark alone. After all, finding a good guide who is skilled and trained and knows the lay of the land takes considerable work, and you don’t have much time to spare. It may be easier to just get going; you could maybe tackle the journey on your own.
Maybe, but maybe not.
You see, you may love your business like no one else and know where you want to go, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re the one who’s most qualified to get there. Effective marketing requires more than just heart; it requires training, experience, tools, and time, all qualities possessed by an experienced guide. And that’s what you get when you bring on 97th Floor.
The world of digital marketing is a jungle, so don’t go it alone; let us be your guides.
Think of this piece as if we were sitting down with you and preparing together for your journey. Naturally, you’ll want to know what we bring to the table as your guide. Thus, this post is not meant to be a platform to boast, but rather one to help you get to know us a little better as your potential partners.
Choosing a leader to help you navigate the mysterious wilderness of marketing means having the faith that they’ll get you to your destination. Your business is precious and it takes a lot of trust to hand it over to someone else. We understand your anxiety, and we know what your brand means to you. So let us just reassure you that concern for your business is at the heart of everything we do. Digital. Marketing. Elevated — It’s more than just a cute slogan. At 97th Floor, your vision is ours, and together, we can take your business to new heights.
Without a destination, you’ll wander aimlessly through the jungle. Your desired goal is what drives us as your guide. Every company is different. Every contract should be as well. We work closely with you to clearly understand your specific pain points and desired outcomes, and together we build a customized contract with KPIs and budget laser-focused around your unique needs. Tell us your destination, and as your guide, we’ll create a map that’ll get us through the weeds to where you want to go.
Getting through the jungle is about pushing through obstacles. And in the wilderness, it’s a matter of life and death. You choose a leader knowing together you’ll make progress, and that they will safely direct you around every danger along the journey, and get you to your destination. In short, you want results, and you want to reach your goals. As your guides, our whole culture at 97th Floor is built around results. Our Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) means that every employee is held accountable to the results they achieve for clients. That’s all we focus on, because ultimately that’s what really matters. You want results, and so do we; that’s why we live and die by them. Everything we do helps achieve the results set out in the contract, but we don’t stop there. In the jungle of marketing, one success must follow another until we reach our destination.
Just as an experienced guide wouldn’t just get you to your destination alive, but rather mentor you and help you feel comfortable along the way, we go beyond simply hitting KPIs. We are your agency partner in all things digital. Whether it’s copywriting, design, SEO strategy, or anything else that might play a part in defining your digital presence, we are always available to help you find the right solutions. In addition to regular emails, we hold weekly meetings to keep you updated on everything we’re doing to get you results. Thanks to our culture of transparency and communication, you’ll never feel left out of the loop. We know the lay of the land, but we’ll help you understand it as well. At the end of our journey, you’ll emerge more seasoned and better equipped to navigate the treacherous and perplexing marketing jungles you’ll encounter in the future.
You’d never hire an untrained guide to get you through the perils of the jungle. All of our marketers are certified in Google Analytics, Hubspot Content Marketing, and Hubspot Inbound Marketing, but that’s only the beginning; they are also required to complete another marketing certification course of their choice, and are expected to remain up to date on all new advances, theories, and strategies related to digital marketing. We value education, and by evaluating trends, sharing insights, and learning the newest technologies and tools, we keep 97th Floor at the forefront of the marketing expedition.
You’ll want a guide with a proven and recognized track record of success. That’s exactly what you’ll get with 97th Floor. The proficiency of each individual employee contributes to our overall agency expertise. We’re the only agency in Utah on the Moz recommended list. We’ve been honored to receive numerous awards and accolades from business publications such as Fortune and Inc., and many of our employees have received individual recognition for their work and the results they’ve brought to clients. But even with so much recognition for the work we do, some of the awards we are most proud of relate to our culture. We’ve been featured on numerous “best place to work” lists. This gives us more than just bragging rights (and don’t get us wrong, bragging rights are pretty great), but it also enables us to retain top talent and provide our clients with the best results. When it comes to blazing trails and getting places, we’ve been through the process.
You want a guide who is a leader, not a follower. You want a guide who is organized, exceptionally knowledgeable, and mingles with other experts. We do just that. Our annual Mastermind conference brings together a speaking lineup of the industry’s best, headlined in 2018 and 2019 by author and marketing thought leader, Seth Godin. We believe that knowledge should be shared. That’s why we openly offer regular tips on advanced digital marketing tactics and technical SEO strategies. In our Mastermind Interview Series, we interview key influencers from the biggest and brightest up-and-coming brands to uncover the most groundbreaking marketing strategies. Our leaders and employees have spoken in conferences all over the world.
A good guide understands their relationship to the earth and gives it the respect and gratitude it is due. Just as the land provides him with water and food, so he gives back. We pledge 1% of our revenue to charitable causes and let each employee individually decide to which charity their portion of the funds will be allocated. We sponsor the AF Canyon Run Against Cancer and invite our clients to run with us free of charge. We run the board for the Silicon Slopes marketing chapter, and our VP of Operations sits on the board of the Utah Digital Marketing Collective. We give back to the marketing world that has given us so much.
Getting through the jungle with a guide is the experience of a lifetime. Just so, working with an agency should be an elevating experience in every way. That’s why we treat our clients to experiences that go beyond just elite-level results. The “wow” factor isn’t just something extra; it’s what drives us. In everything we do, we deliver the best. From corporate ski passes to priority access to our annual Mastermind conference, we take every available opportunity to delight our clients. After all, customer satisfaction is only the first step. At 97th Floor, we embrace the idea of an experience economy, and when it comes to how we treat our clients, “good enough” is never good enough. We’ll get you through the jungle and to your journey’s end better than you were when you started and you’ll have some unforgettable experiences along the way.
Simply put, when you take 97th Floor as your guide, something just feels different.
We spend time doing the dirty work. In the crazy jungle of marketing, we are your boots on the ground, your trailblazers in the weeds. Your vision is our vision and we will help you get there. The online marketing world is a vast and complicated one, but we will be your guides.
Let’s start our journey today!
one of the best things we've done at chatbooks is to create a clear set of values; we promote, reward and cut based on these values.
Welcome to the the 97th Floor Mastermind Interview Series where each week we sit down with one of the makers, thought leaders and visionaries behind the biggest and/or up-and-coming brands around. We talk about everything from business and marketplace insights to personal journeys, successes, failures and legacy.
In this episode we’re talking to Chatbooks Chief Marketing Officer, Rachel Hofstetter. Rachel joined Chatbooks in November 2015 and played a pivotal role in creating the video The Real Mom, which has since amassed more than 100 million views. Rachel did this while also overseeing the overall brand that is turning instagram photos into instant coffee table artwork. Prior to Chatbooks, Rachel worked at “O” the Oprah Magazine, Reader’s Digest, wrote a best-selling book Cooking Up a Business and founded a company called guesterly. Her insights in this interview on everything from just getting started on a project or life goal, to failing, to defining your teams’ north star are spectacularly clear and spot on. Let’s jump in!
0:35 An editor, best-selling author and entrepreneur—Rachel Hofstetter's start and journey to Chatbooks.
3:37 Validating an idea, starting a company and getting noticed by Glamour, Real Simple and Procter & Gamble.
6:39 Storytelling and entrepreneurship.
7:14 Chatbooks launch and the story behind the simple idea and brand.
10:58 The process (and myth) behind creating a viral video; collaborating with the Harmon Brothers.
14:58 Creating a clear vision and three objectives of a CMO.
17:27 How to grow an all-star team and defining the 5-points of the Chatbooks north star.
22:55 The remedy to fear of failure.
29:00 Rachel's guiding principle to always improving and growing.
31:37 The art of essentialism and getting the right things done.
33:27 Saying "no" without saying no.
what I give doesn't have to necessarily be what you asked for and it can still be beneficial to you.
36:24 Legacy; what Rachel wants to be remembered for.
39:04 Advice to those figuring out what they want to have, be, do next.
Learn more about Chatbooks | guesterly
Chatbooks "The Real Mom" video
Rachel's book Cooking Up a Business: Lessons from Food Lovers Who Turned Their Passion into a Career -- and How You Can, Too
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Depending on who you ask (or which result you click in Google), the years of birth to be considered a Millennial range somewhere between 1980 and 2000. So being a proud 1986er myself, I’m perfectly qualified to chime in on what Millennials expect from work.
When I first started hearing about Millennials and their stereotypes, I figured the term referred to people much younger than myself. Teenagers. The kids that had cell phones in elementary school. The kids on Snapchat. They couldn’t be talking about my age group. I used payphones in high school, after all! And of course I didn’t pay for the payphone...like anyone my age knows, I used the Collect Call trick. (My parents received and declined a lot of phone calls from “HeymomitsWayneI’mreadypickmeup!” and I always got picked up.) I had dial-up internet in high school. And no, we didn’t pay for it...like anyone in the economic situation like I was growing up knows, I kept taking the free AOL CDs from Walmart to use the free hours, and then once that was out we’d pop in a new one with a new email address.
I was wrong, though. I am in fact a Millennial, and those “kids” are part of a new generation called Generation Z.
To be honest, for these last seven or so years, I’ve been slightly ashamed of being a Millennial. Maybe embarrassed is a better word for how I felt. Everything I read, heard, and watched made Millennials seem pretty terrible. Especially in the workplace. What Millennials expected from work was bean bag chairs, video games, snacks and a keg. Oh and don’t forget about the ping pong table. For all of that time spent having a party at work, we wanted immediate raises and promotions.
Well, I didn’t feel like I fit this narrative. Sure, I came across a handful of Millennials that matched the profile, but I was somehow lucky enough to mostly surround myself with and know Millennials like me. They didn’t expect those types of things from work, either; nor did they/we necessarily want them.
I’ve come to find out in recent years that all of that was a myth. Click bait. Attention-grabbing consultants. There were a few studies that seemed to prove those stereotypes were facts, but the research was poor. They mainly tried to show the differences between generations. Academics have looked at these so-called studies and have concluded that there have been “gross generalizations based on weak survey research, and the speculations of profit-oriented consultants should be treated with extreme caution.” A group of researchers from George Washington University and the Department of Defense concluded that “meaningful differences among generations probably do not exist in the workplace.” While there are some differences, those have more to do with age and the stages of life people are experiencing. You can read more about how Millennials don’t differ much from other generations in this great article published on Harvard Business Review by Bruce N. Pfau.
Below are results from two studies that actually show Millennials to be pretty much the same as Baby Boomers and Gen Xers when it comes to what they want out of work. While all generations were very similar, it is interesting to see Millennials cared the least about having a fun place to work. If your company is spending more attention and/or money on video games and ice cream parties than it is on trainings and education, you have a problem.
I’m no longer embarrassed to be a Millennial. We’re not much different from other generations when it comes to the things that really matter, especially in our careers. We want to do great work. We want to continue to learn. We want to add value to our companies. We want to work with great colleagues. We want to grow and take on new challenges. We want our work to positively influence our lives outside of work and vice versa.
At 97th Floor, we’re mostly made up of Millennials. We do have some Gen Xers on board, and in the past there have been other Gen Xers and even Baby Boomers. When I heard those people describe the company culture at 97th Floor as the best they’ve ever been a part of, I figured they were just Millennials at heart and were finally at a company geared towards Millennials. But over the last couple of years, I’ve realized it’s because a great company culture like the one we have at 97th Floor doesn’t only appeal to one specific generation. I believe that, now that there is more transparency (the internet in general and specifically Glassdoor), companies need to focus on company culture to stay competitive. This is a good thing, of course, and all generations are benefiting from the change.
My dad used to tell me to be my own boss when I grew up. At a young age, I figured he said that because bosses are the ones that make a lot of money. As I became a teenager and young man, I started to realize that his advice didn’t really have much to do with making a lot of money. His advice was to stay away from the typical company that controlled their employees and created a labor force of disengaged employees. We still have plenty of these types of companies today.
At 97th Floor, we essentially want people to be their own bosses. We want them to receive the benefits of being their own boss without having to deal with the accompanying downsides. To me, it comes down to giving our employees five things that most companies don’t allow them to have. That lack often leads to disengaged employees or employees who leave for a company that provides those benefits, or even start their own company. Each of these points could be the basis for a whole article in itself, but for now, I’ll just share a couple thoughts on each.
1. Autonomy
As Dan Pink teaches in his book Drive, autonomy is one of the things that truly motivates people. Traditional company cultures strip autonomy away from people. Autonomy in the workplace encompasses the employee’s time, team, task, and technique. We try our best to give each employee at 97th Floor 100% autonomy over these things. We allow people to choose the teams they want to be a part of. It’s not uncommon for teams to make offers to one employee and the employee chooses which one they want to take. This is similar to the open market, except that it is happening within our company. We also are a ROWE organization, which really helps us give employees 100% autonomy. We just demand 100% accountability in return.
The ‘time’ part of autonomy seems to be a particularly important factor for Millennials, though it’s really important for everyone. A survey by Intelligence Group found that 74% of Millennials want flexible work schedules and 88% want “work-life integration.” If you’re your own boss, you work when you want to, so long as you can achieve the necessary results.
In the same survey by Intelligence Group, 87% of Millennials said professional development was an important part of their job. From my experience, most companies do a pretty good job with helping their employees develop their knowledge and skills. However, one thing few companies do a good job at is allowing employees to expand their knowledge and skills outside of their position. As a business owner, you learn and develop skills in pretty much every facet of business. While not every employee will care to learn a lot about every part of the business, it’s important for the company to provide those opportunities for their employees. It separates the person from the position, which is a good thing. The company pays the employee for the position they fill, and at the end of the day, the company judges the employee on how they perform in that position; but the employee needs to know that they are viewed and treated as an individual and not just a role.
As a business owner, your income is 100% tied to your work. As an employee, it sometimes doesn’t feel this way. Too often, you feel like you’re taking a lot more work and not seeing more income. While it’d have to be a very dumb company or manager to not recognize a star performer and then compensate them, there is a lot of room for improvement for most companies. At 97th Floor, we have a financial structure for almost all of our employees that rewards them for their productivity and efficiency. It’s not perfect, but it’s an attempt to make employees think like business owners, and it’s helped us a lot over the last few years. We allow employees to decide if they need to hire another person on the team or if they really need that new tool. If they can be more efficient and not hire that person or buy that tool, that money comes back to the team. However, if those type of decisions hurt their productivity, that will hurt their earnings potential. So it’s a constant balance of productivity and efficiency—just like a business owner has to do. While that’s a challenge, it does give control to the employees and allows them to feel that they have a say in their compensation.
As part of our ROWE certification, we were trained to call managers (or bosses) by a new name: “Results Coach”. While we’re not perfect and you’ll still hear “manager” and “boss” being used at 97th Floor, we do a pretty good job of acting like results coaches. The basic difference is that, as results coaches, we set the results we want our team to achieve and the timeframe to achieve them. From there, we get out of their way, help when needed, and give advice. There isn’t the stereotypical boss attitude of “my way or the highway.” In the previously-mentioned survey by Intelligence Group, 72% of Millennials would like to be their own boss, but if they have to work for a boss, 79% of them would want that boss to serve as more of a coach or mentor.
Most people care about more than just money. However, many companies focus almost entirely on revenue. So when you’re an employee, there’s a good chance you’ll end up at a company where your only purpose is to drive revenue. In the Intelligence Group survey, 64% of Millennials say that making the world a better place is a priority for them. If your employees don’t feel that they are accomplishing this, they’re going to leave and find a company where they can feel that purpose. Barring that option, they’ll start their own companies so that they can be their own boss and direct the purpose of the company themselves.
Last year we were featured on Inc. Magazine’s first ever 50 Best Workplaces list (we recently found out that we made it onto this year's list too), and to celebrate the news, we put up a billboard near our office. Observe:
And while this is obviously a friendly jab at businesses that think a ping pong table equals an awesome work environment, it’s also become something of a mantra. The billboard was ultimately a statement that you can create an amazing culture and workplace without resorting to gimmicks.
Whenever the topic of workplace ping pong (and all it represents) comes up, I’m reminded of a personal experience. Prior to joining 97th Floor, I worked for a company that (you guessed it) had a ping pong table. You might be expecting me to say that the thing was little more than an expensive dust collector, but you’d be wrong — it was used constantly. My team had two set times each day during which we could use the ping pong table. As those times would approach, employees would stop what they were doing and rush over to play ping pong.
For me, the ping pong table came to represent flawed company culture. How so? Simple: Ping pong was the reward. It was the reason employees came in in the morning. It was what prevented them from sending out resumes to other employers. The drive for success and self improvement was replaced with ping pong tournaments and nerf wars, and an inspirational company purpose was as far from everyone’s mind as could be.
When I came to 97th Floor, I made a decision: I would never allow a ping pong table to find its way into our company workspace. Do I hate ping pong? Of course not; in my time with the aforementioned company, I was just as excited to play during work hours as anyone. But ping pong is not what 97th Floor culture is about.
Company perks are great. However, too often, they’re misused. Patty McCord, the former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix, suggests that perks should have a purpose. She says that many of the extravagant perks offered these days are a “race to the ridiculous.” Giving people more stuff won’t make them happier, but perks that support the company’s values, mission, and purpose will.
A 2014 survey by BlessingWhite demonstrated that engaged employees report that the top reason for staying at a job is that they like the work they do. The second most-reported reason for engaged employees to stay at a job is that they believe in the company’s mission and culture. You may notice that ping-pong (or whatever other fun attractions an employer might showcase) isn’t up there. So where is it? Quite a bit closer to the bottom, actually. Only 5% of engaged workers identified perks as a reason they stay at their job.
So few? What about the ping pong enthusiasts I mentioned from my own experience? Well, if you take a quick look at the wording of the survey, you’ll notice it’s talking about engaged employees. For disengaged employees, however, the numbers start to flip. Disengaged workers report perks as a much more important reason for staying at their job. The survey backs the saying that “the engaged stay for what they can give, the disengaged stay for what they can get."
Want to attract the wrong people? A ping pong table looks like the way to go. If, on the other hand, you want a workforce that can grow your business and make a positive impact on your industry and your community, then realign your focus to highlight your company values and mission. This is why at 97th Floor, we often shy away from discussing employee perks (of which we have many) with potential hires and interviewees — particularly when the purposes behind said perks aren’t obvious.
And what purpose should perks be filling? In my opinion, the best way to use perks is to reinforce the purpose, mission, and values of the company.
For example, we at 97th Floor value the thirst for knowledge. To promote that thirst, we instituted the 97th Floor Library program, in which the company will purchase any book an employee wants, with the caveat that the book ends up on the break-room bookshelf once they’re done with it. Books may not cost much, but they do cost something. We don’t want our employees hesitating when it comes to furthering their own knowledge, and with the book then available for any other employee to enjoy, we’re able to offer a fun perk that benefits everyone, while also reinforcing a key company value.
Now don’t get me wrong, not every perk we have at 97th Floor serves some higher purpose other than to provide a bit of entertainment. We have an Xbox One in the break room right next to the bookshelf, and when it’s time for company-wide rewards, we’ve been known to spring for the occasional massage or movie outing. I think this is perfectly fine, but I hesitate to call these examples ‘perks.’ These aren’t the things you should have on your job ads. These aren’t the things that everyone should talk about at the office. These aren’t the things that management should expect will retain the right employees. These are just diversions. The perks that promote your company’s mission and values are the ones that will have the greatest impact on employee success.
Too often I see companies attempting to use perks to fill a void that only satisfying work, a worthwhile mission, and an inspirational vision can satisfy. Want to see whom among your acquaintances works for a business that understand this? Here’s a simple test you can perform:
The next time you’re catching up with friends, ask around to see how everyone feels about their jobs. Of those who say that they like their jobs, ask them what it is about their jobs that they like most. If they start talking about the nap room, the free donuts every morning, and even the (dreaded) daily ping pong tournaments, then take note. There’s a good chance that these are the ones who’ll have a new job the next time you see them. On the other hand, identify those that tell you about the awesome work they are doing, the challenges they are overcoming, how their contributions move the company forward overall, and how their company is impacting the world, and you’ll have found employees of businesses that really understand the value of perks.
Perks come and go. In fact, perks are usually first to go during recessions or hard times for the business. So ask yourself, if you took away all of the perks in your company, would the employees stay? If not, you may have a serious problem on your hands. When all is said and done, team members should be willing to stay for the right reasons.
At 97th Floor, you’ll never see employees jockeying for a place in a ping pong tournament. You will see people that are doing fun, exciting, challenging, and purposeful work. You’ll see that work contribute to a company that is growing our client companies and helping those companies fulfill their missions. You’ll see people making an impact in the world through charity. You’ll see people controlling their lives and their work. You’ll see people mastering their crafts. You’ll see people growing in their careers. You’ll see people putting a ton of effort into helping others grow. You’ll see perks that are meant to help people with everything listed above. And while you may also see a few perks that are just for fun, you’ll notice that they mean almost nothing to the people when it really comes down to what truly matters in the workplace.
Now, all things considered, doesn’t that sound better than a round of ping pong?
Every company wants to be more innovative, more efficient, and more resilient in the face of change. The organizations that achieve this don’t rely on quick fixes. Their secret sauce is embracing continuous improvement in the workplace as part of their culture.
Continuous improvement in the workplace is the practice of making steady, ongoing progress in how an organization operates. Instead of waiting for major overhauls, it’s about finding small, meaningful ways to improve processes, skills, and outcomes every day. Over time, those small changes add up to major growth.
At its core, continuous improvement means asking, “How can we do this better?”, and then acting on the answer. It applies to everything from streamlining workflows and reducing errors to improving customer experiences and building a stronger team culture. There are two common types of continuous improvement:
Incremental improvement focuses on small, gradual changes made consistently over time. These shifts may feel minor in the moment, but together they build momentum and create lasting impact.
Breakthrough improvement targets bigger, more dramatic changes. These initiatives deliver rapid results and can transform processes quickly, but they require planning, resources, and strong leadership support to succeed.
Adopting continuous improvement in the workplace delivers value on every level: people, processes, and performance. Here are some of the most impactful benefits:
When teams consistently look for better ways to work, wasted time and effort disappear. Streamlined processes mean projects move faster, resources are used more effectively, and employees can focus on higher-value activities instead of routine bottlenecks. Over time, even small efficiency gains can transform productivity.
People thrive in environments where their ideas matter. Continuous improvement encourages employees to contribute suggestions and take ownership of change, which builds motivation and loyalty. An engaged workforce is more resilient and less likely to experience turnover.
Continuous improvement reduces errors and creates more reliable outcomes. Whether it’s fewer defects in a product, more consistent client communication, or smoother internal workflows, higher quality becomes the norm. This consistency strengthens trust with both employees and customers.
Small improvements often spark bigger ideas. A culture that rewards experimentation creates space for employees to test solutions, learn quickly, and share insights. Over time, this mindset drives breakthroughs that help organizations stay ahead of competitors and adapt to new challenges.
Customers notice when organizations are committed to getting better. Faster response times, smoother interactions, and higher-quality results all lead to stronger relationships and increased loyalty. Satisfied customers are more likely to return, refer others, and become advocates for the brand.
Markets shift quickly, and businesses that embrace continuous improvement adapt faster. Instead of scrambling to react, they already have the culture, systems, and skills in place to pivot with confidence. This long-term resilience helps organizations weather disruption and seize new opportunities.
Continuous improvement starts with leadership. When managers and executives demonstrate their own commitment to learning, adapting, and improving, it sets the standard for the rest of the organization. Employees notice when leaders share lessons learned, own mistakes, and celebrate progress (not perfection). This kind of transparency builds trust and signals that improvement is it’s a company-wide expectation.
Nothing derails improvement faster than vague expectations. Employees need a direct line of sight to what success looks like, and that’s why we need clear KPIs. Specific, measurable goals help teams visualize a roadmap for progress and motivate them to focus energy where it matters most. Instead of checking boxes or chasing vanity metrics, people know exactly how their efforts contribute to real outcomes, whether that’s customer satisfaction, faster project delivery, or higher quality work.
Of course, that’s not to say that the bottom line isn’t important. It absolutely is, but more than that, it can be a valuable measure of how effectively a business is promoting self-improvement.
When going ROWE (results-only work environment), we shifted from an environment that judged employee effectiveness by how long they clocked in or how well they obeyed the ever-important office rules to one that focuses exclusively on results. This is single-handedly the best way to foster an environment of self-improvement, as the employees are clear as to what they should work on. However, if the ‘results’ or KPIs that you have laid out for them are not clear, then this can be a disaster that will slowly kill the drive to improve.
I bring this up often, but years ago, when we had fewer than 10 employees, I was running the whole company in terms of payroll, insurance, etc., but I also directly oversaw one division, while my good friend Wayne Sleight, a then up-and-coming employee, was running another. He and I talked regularly, and he had pretty clear KPIs — not handed to him from me, but from his own awareness of his position. His department was humming; mine, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. The work we were putting out was top-notch, but we often missed deadlines and had terrible client communication. This was 100% on me, and with the benefit of hindsight, I’m able to see the biggest problems we were facing:
I was way too busy to be running the division. I should have clearly tasked someone to do it and provided them the same freedom and accountability I had given Wayne. I had asked several different people during this time to ‘run’ the division, but I often micromanaged and stepped in, but only sporadically, because I was being pulled in so many directions as the CEO. This created an unstable, inconsistent environment where I would be very present one day, and then totally gone or checked out in another. It also made it so I wasn’t very clear on my expectations with those running point, because I would often swoop in and take care of tasks that really didn’t require my involvement. One day, the person running point had all the keys to the kingdom, and then the next, I would come in and take them all away.
This was all done out of a desire to help my people out, but intentions aside, it watered down the KPIs, and it created a slow death of not knowing how to improve. Things became so lopsided that we often had to pull money from the other side of the company just to cover salaries.
If you want those around you to improve, give them a clear roadmap, both in terms of results and a career path.
Constructive criticism is the engine of growth. In workplaces where it’s scarce, improvement stalls. In workplaces where it flows freely, teams get better every day. Constructive, timely feedback allows employees to correct course, sharpen skills, and recognize strengths before they fade into the background. Leaders can model this by asking for feedback themselves, proving it’s a two-way street. When feedback becomes part of the rhythm of work, continuous improvement takes root.
I am very much a cheerleader — it comes from being very passionate about what I do. Often after going to a meeting with employees, they remark about the energy in the room and how well a meeting went, and that gives me a good opening to talk to them about how important it is to let the prospect or the client see your passion, and is a good way to set a precedent for my workforce and let them know that I expect them to be passionate about what they do.
After these meetings, or after speaking engagements where employees are present, I will ask my people how I can improve. This is because my employees can be my best critics, given their familiarity with the context. Did I make them feel uncomfortable by something I said? Did I say “um” too much? When requesting feedback from your employees, ask for honesty, and be sure to accept any criticism you receive graciously and with an open mind. Sure, at first, you will get ‘yes men’ answers from people who just want to get on your good side, but as you improve your relationship with your employees, those kinds of responses will drop away. Start by suggesting something you felt you need to improve on, and then invite your people to add anything else, and let them know that ‘yes man’ answers aren’t going to cut it. In my experience, our female employees are a lot more forthcoming and not as afraid to give criticism.
We are very fortunate at 97th Floor to have a healthy environment of self-improvement. We are all collectively working together to better ourselves, not just in our professions, but also in our lives. This focus has helped us build a company culture that extends well beyond the office walls and is gaining prominence throughout the business world.
As I said before, an environment of self-improvement should be every CEO’s dream, but dreams only take you so far. Turning that dream into reality, on the other hand, now that’s a goal worth striving for.
The best improvements often come from the people closest to the problems. A culture of continuous improvement depends on involving every employee, not just leadership or management. Encourage team members to share ideas, experiment with solutions, and celebrate small wins. Empowering employees creates ownership, and ownership creates momentum. When everyone feels responsible for progress, continuous improvement stops being an initiative and starts being the norm.
How to Implement Continuous Improvement in the Workplace
Continuous improvement in the workplace starts with leadership. Leaders must set the vision, explain why it matters, and model growth. When employees see leaders committed to improvement, they’re more likely to follow.
Next, set clear goals. Define what success looks like. It might be faster delivery, fewer errors, or happier customers; keep it specific to your team’s top priorities. Specific, measurable targets keep teams focused and moving in the same direction.
Employees also need a voice. The best ideas often come from those closest to the work, so invite input through surveys, workshops, or team discussions. Quick wins from frontline suggestions build momentum and prove the value of the process.
Finally, measure and celebrate! Track results with metrics like productivity, engagement, or cost savings. Share successes, expand what works, and keep the culture of improvement alive. When your team meets a goal, make sure they feel great about what they’ve accomplished.
Continuous improvement shows up in daily actions that drive lasting results. Here are some practical ways companies bring it to life:
Even small changes can save a large amount of time. When teams map their workflows, they spot redundancies and bottlenecks that slow things down. Cutting a few unnecessary approval steps can shave days off delivery timelines and free employees to focus on meaningful work.
Every time employees build new skills, the organization gains strength. Regular training, whether it’s new software, leadership development, or cross-training, keeps teams sharp, adaptable, and ready for whatever comes next.
Improvement doesn’t stop at internal processes. Businesses that listen to customers and act on feedback stand out in crowded markets. Shorter response times, personalized communication, and proactive service are simple shifts that build loyalty.
Continuous improvement also means taking care of the people behind the work. Encouraging employees to focus on health, wellness, and balance leads to higher energy, stronger engagement, and better long-term performance.
The best ideas often come from those closest to the work. When employees have clear channels to share insights, like suggestion systems, innovation days, or open feedback forums, organizations unlock creative solutions that leadership might miss.
The best organizations never stop improving. Whether it’s refining processes, empowering teams, or elevating customer experiences, continuous improvement keeps businesses moving forward. The same principle applies to marketing. Campaigns that evolve, adapt, and improve over time consistently outperform those that stand still.
At 97th Floor, we help brands embrace this mindset in their advertising and content strategies. From data-driven campaigns to creative storytelling, we partner with companies to build marketing that grows stronger with every iteration.
Ready to take the next step in improving your marketing performance? Let’s talk.
Continuous improvement is the practice of making ongoing, incremental changes that enhance processes, products, and performance. It focuses on steady progress rather than one-time fixes.
Continuous improvement in the workplace means building a culture where employees, leaders, and teams consistently look for ways to work smarter, deliver better results, and adapt quickly to change. It applies to everything from workflows and training to customer service.
Examples include streamlining workflows, offering employee training, automating repetitive tasks, and improving customer response times. Even small improvements like refining communication between departments can create a lasting impact.
You promote continuous improvement by securing leadership support, setting clear goals, inviting employee input, and measuring results. Recognizing progress and scaling successful initiatives helps build momentum.
Continuous improvement is important because it drives efficiency, boosts employee engagement, and strengthens customer satisfaction. It also helps organizations adapt to new challenges and remain competitive over time.
The key principles include leadership support, clear goals, constructive feedback, and active employee involvement. Together, these principles create an environment where improvement is sustainable.
Key Takeaways
If you’re familiar with 97th Floor, you know that we practice an HR management strategy called ROWE, which stands for Results Only Work Environment. In fact, we’ve become a ROWE Certified Organization. While ROWE isn’t all that our culture is, it definitely is the first aspect of our culture that people think of.
That recognition is earned. Autonomy is one of our strongest differentiators, and it often sparks curiosity: What does results oriented, or results only, actually mean? Results oriented, put simply, is a professional environment where employees have complete control over how they accomplish their work, so long as the outcome meets expectations. Productivity replaces presence. Quality replaces hours. In exchange for freedom, employees give full accountability. A fitting results oriented synonym might be performance-driven, outcome-focused, or impact-first.
The autonomy a results oriented culture gives our employees is one of the things that really sets 97th Floor apart. That said, it feels like there might be some misconception about what the reality of ROWE really entails. I’ve heard non-97th Floor employees describe our results oriented culture as being all about working remotely from sun-soaked vacation spots, sipping icy drinks and brushing sand off of your keyboard while you tackle your tasks — or throwing decorum to the wind, and working from your couch while wrapped in an old blanket.
But while it’s true that all of us at 97th Floor have the freedom to do both of those (I know I have a few times with the former… and, yes, maybe a couple of times with the latter), that doesn’t mean that the perceived opposite (working 9–5 in the office) isn’t also ROWE. In fact, sometimes a standard 9–5 employee is more ROWE focused than the guy who’s working from the beach (or the living room).
You see, what ROWE is all about is allowing the individual employee to decide what works best for them. Productivity, efficiency, effectiveness — these are the considerations that drive a results oriented employee. Hours spent in the office, or hours not spent in the office, don’t even come into play. In essence, the workforce gets 100% autonomy, and in return gives 100% accountability. We can do whatever we want, whenever we want, wherever we want, as long as we get the work done.
Of course, it’s not hard to see how this perceived division between ROWE and standard 9–5 work environments came to be. In fact, just a couple of week ago a local business magazine picked 97th Floor as one of the best companies to work for in Utah County. Unfortunately, in the resultant article I was quoted as saying something that in retrospect I feel may have added to the misconception that ROWE (and therefore 97th Floor) is against the 9–5 schedule.
“Too often,” I posited, “mediocre employees hide behind a 9–5 environment. ROWE lets the work — not the punch clock — do the talking.” And while I stand by my assessment, the point I was trying to make may not have been as clear as I would have hoped. What I meant by this is that just putting in 40 hours (or even 50 or 60) per week doesn’t necessarily mean effective results.
The truth is that lackluster employees will likely be just as unengaged at 40 hours as they are at 20 hours, but it’s those same employees who are so quick to point out that because they’re putting in the hours, they must be ‘working.’ A results oriented company is one that recognizes that employees are paid to do more than just warm a seat in the office. Underperforming employees shouldn’t be able to hide behind perfect attendance, because attendance doesn’t generate profit. Where someone does their work or how many hours they are working simply doesn’t matter, as long as they’re getting the results.
And yes, it’s true that even in most traditional 9–5 workplaces, employees are still judged on results as well. But oftentimes the amount of hours put in can help keep an underperforming employee around for a bit longer. If your 9–5 based company doesn’t allow hours worked to be a factor in employee evaluations, then that’s great, but if that’s the case, then what’s the point enforcing a schedule in the first place?
For the record, 97th Floor doesn’t have a problem at all with people working Monday through Friday, 9am–5pm. In fact, based on my estimate (and obviously I can’t pull in actual numbers since we don’t track time), about 20% of our employees still work every day during the week at our office, showing up at 8 or 9am and staying for about 8 hours. These people are absolutely taking full advantage of ROWE. They are deciding that being at the office for 8 hours each day from Monday to Friday is the best for them.
I’d venture a guess that these people are more effective by choosing for themselves to work a traditional schedule than if they were forced to by their employer. I’d also estimate that another 20% of our employees work almost exclusively from home or elsewhere (only coming into the office for meetings) and the remaining 60% work a hybrid between the office, home, and elsewhere. Each of these work schedules are just as much a part of ROWE as the next.
One benefit that people often point at of having everyone in the office each day from 9–5 is that people need to collaborate and communicate with each other. With Slack, GoToMeeting, and other collaboration tools, that’s really not an argument anymore. For the times when an employee needs to meet in-person, they just schedule a meeting at the office, giving everyone involved enough notice. Again, this isn’t to say that working in an office everyday from 9–5 is bad. The bad part is not having a choice in the matter. People should choose for themselves where and when they work.
Building a results oriented workplace takes intention. Through our transition, we found that it comes down to changing four things.
First, get clear on what “done” actually means.
If the goal is fuzzy, effort becomes the measurement by default. We’ve all seen projects that took many hours or even days, yet no one can really say if progress was made. Setting clear, measurable targets gives people something concrete to run toward instead of just filling time.
Second, make accountability visible.
Accountability isn’t a threat; it’s a promise. When people know what they’re responsible for, and when results are reviewed openly, ownership becomes natural. Not because someone is watching, but because they care about delivering.
Third, give people room to figure out how they work best.
Autonomy is the magic ingredient of a results oriented model. Some of us think best at a desk. Some do our best work in a coffee shop, or at home with a dog on our lap. Let adults be adults. Give them space, trust, and the expectation that the work gets done.
Last, communicate like a team that’s rowing in the same direction.
Slack threads, quick meetings, shared timelines; none of that goes away. In fact, it matters even more. Freedom works because communication does. It keeps projects moving and prevents anyone from feeling like they’re building in a vacuum.
Put those four things together and you can get your team to stop watching the clock and start chasing outcomes. When you make the shift, it’s hard to imagine working any other way.
When measuring success, obviously, we’re really only talking about time and location here, and not everything that ROWE encompasses. Still, in regard to time and where we work, science is backing up the principles of ROWE. Recently, Nicholas Bloom, a professor at Stanford, gave a talk at TEDx about working from home. His study with one large company found that giving employees the choice to work from home resulted in a 50% drop in employee attrition, employee performance went up by 24%, and the company made an additional $2,000 in profit per employee. There was also a study by author and National Geographic Fellow, Dan Buettner, that showed cutting an hour-long commute each way from a person’s daily schedule gives that person the happiness equivalent of an extra $40,000 per year. At 97th Floor, we focused on tracking four metrics when we switched over to a results oriented culture: client retention rate, employee turnover rate, revenue per employee, and goal completion percentages of contracts. Over the lastC two years, all four have improved. Our clients and employees are staying longer, we are delivering better results, and we’re more efficient.
Our society is getting better and better at allowing people to be individuals. People are increasingly encouraged to do and be what makes them happy. Yet with work, the majority of companies still expect everyone to be the same. We need to change this mindset and let individuals manage themselves, while the company manages the work results. When that happens, success will come — whether that means working 8 hours a day in the office, or doing it all from the comfort of a well-worn couch.
Back in 2012, we did things very differently at 97th Floor. One aspect of our company was that we used to have the team come in at 8:00am on the dot and make them leave at 5:00pm. They had some flexibility of course…they could take a 30 minute lunch or a one hour lunch! I vividly remember lecturing one particular team member that he had to take at least a 30 minute lunch.
My intentions were good; I was just doing what I was accustomed to and I thought it would be good for his health and productivity to take a break. However, at the same time we were really pushing hard to build our brand as a results-based marketing agency. We wanted clients to hire and pay us for our strategy and results, more than our hours and deliverables. Sure, we had (and still have) projects that were billed hourly, but the majority of our clients were hiring us for our skills as an agency. What they were after were results, not hours.
It was really hard back then—and still is sometimes—to get companies to view us in this light. That’s when we started asking ourselves, “Why should clients judge us based on results and the true value we bring to them if we judge our own team on how many hours they sit in their chairs where we can watch them?” Oh and don’t get me wrong, we were much worse than just tracking their every minute. We tracked basically everything you can imagine that really doesn’t matter. We couldn’t expect our clients and prospective clients to be different than us.
We ultimately learned that the culture we breed at 97th Floor directly impacts our brand. We quickly (but not abruptly) started changing our policies and environment to help facilitate the culture that we now wanted. Today, team members are judged on their results and the value they bring to 97th Floor only. They have 100% autonomy, and in turn they give the company 100% accountability. This example, along with many other major improvements to our culture, has allowed our brand to be about results-based marketing.
Most companies haven’t figured this out yet. They are doing things the old way: coming up with what they want their brand to be, and then spending money to force it down their customers’ throats. And sure, that works to an extent, but it won’t last in the long term. Today, your culture is the main influence on your brand.
People are increasingly doing more and more research about companies before they buy. They ask their friends. They scroll through social networks. They read reviews. People don’t buy from Zappos because the particular shoes are better quality than everywhere else. It’s not even for the free, fast shipping. The shoes are the same on the other site and many other sites offer free, fast shipping now as well. They buy from Zappos because their brand is all about superior customer service. That was Zappos intent and they built that by creating a culture based on excellent customer service. Just ask Tony Hsieh.
There are many famous examples of companies with strong brands, and they were created through the company’s culture. Sure, the marketing and ad dollars helped, but the main driver was the culture.
All companies love to tout that their people are their number-one asset, and it’s for good reason; the people are what drive a company to success or failure. However, you constantly see companies that treat their employees terribly and let their culture go to garbage. Just browse around on Glassdoor and see for yourself. In the past companies could say one thing and hide everything that went on in their office from the public. Not anymore. Not in the increasingly transparent world we live in.
Today’s workers are knowledgeable and empowered. Top talent isn’t joining those companies with terrible cultures, and any top talent that is at those companies are quickly leaving. Now, if you don’t have a solid company culture, everything will start going south quickly. Your employees will be disengaged and do shoddy work, which will lead to your disgruntled customers shaping your brand for you. Your employees aren’t going to be brand ambassadors outside of the office, so customers and potential employees will stay away from you. Your employees and customers will create your company’s brand no matter how hard you fight back. The only way to fix it, or prevent it, is to focus on cultivating a healthy company culture.
The positive side of this is that the opposite is true. If your culture is thriving, your employees will do great work, they’ll be brand ambassadors even outside of the office, and your customers will spread your positive branding as well. Basically, however you treat your employees, they’re going to pay it forward to your clients.
These days I don’t worry so much about our branding. Instead, I spend my focus and energy on our culture. We make sure our policies and our environment are conducive to the team, and strengthen and add to the culture. I know based on our own experience and the experience of many other companies that as long as the culture is right, almost everything else, including the brand, will take care of itself. Our company culture is the best test of the strength of our brand.
So start asking yourself questions. Do you want your brand to be known as up to date and cutting edge in your space? Is your culture one that encourages people to constantly be learning, testing, and growing? Because if your culture isn’t pushing your brand in the direction you want it to go, start making changes now.
97th Floor has come a long way since 2012, when lunch schedules seemed like an issue worth addressing. Now, our major concern is providing the best service to our clients. As long as we're accomplishing that task, the hours don't actually matter. After all, culture is what will carry your company into the future, but only if you step back and let it.
Give your employees a culture that supports and strengthens them, and they'll give your brand a future worth working for.
97th Floor was recently ranked on Entrepreneur's Top Company Cultures list, a comprehensive ranking of U.S.-based businesses exhibiting high-performance cultures created in partnership with culture management software and service provider CultureIQ®. The Top Company Cultures list has placed 97th Floor as the 26th in the Small Company category. 97th Floor is recognized for creating an exceptional culture that drives employee engagement, exceeds employee expectations and directly impacts company success.
CEO Chris Bennett says, “Company culture is our top priority and we find investing in our employees is the best application of our resources. Strong culture not only attracts the best candidates but encourages and entices the best work.”
"Great company cultures don’t happen on their own. They’re the result of great leadership, and a conscious effort to make everyone on a team feel engaged and important,” says Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur. “The honorees on our 2017 list are proof that strong cultures make even stronger companies. Entrepreneurs at all levels can draw inspiration from them.”
The full list, presenting a total of 153 companies categorized as small, medium-sized or large companies—with 25-49 employees, 50-99 employees and more than 100 employees respectively— is available on Entrepreneur.com. Core insights, behaviors and attributes that have helped to shape the high-performing cultures presented by the top companies are shared alongside practices to help other companies develop their own workplace environments.
"A high-performance culture leads not only to employee engagement but also to measurable business results," says Greg Besner, founder and CEO of CultureIQ. “These organizations show us that great companies start with great culture.”
The rankings for all companies were determined using CultureIQ's methodology for measuring high-performance cultures. Employees at each company received a survey of multiple-choice questions and the answers were used to assess a company's strength across 10 core components of culture–collaboration, innovation and communication to name a few. The companies with the highest scores became the Top Company Culture list in ranking order. To be considered for the ranking, a company must have at least 25 employees, have been founded before Jan. 1, 2015 and be headquartered in the U.S.
To view 97th Floor in the full ranking, visit entm.ag/TopCultures
