As a business professional, over time I have come to view the generally accepted method of creating a corporate mission statement as flawed. I’ve learned that the best mission is one defined out of the results that customers experience when they use an exceptional product. The mission primer is an excellent product and/or service.
I believe that the products and services should speak for themselves. A well designed product comes first. And, because of that belief in product first, as an entrepreneur and as a CEO my highest priority is to create products and services that give fitness customers what they need in an effort to save them time and to create for them a higher quality of life. Then, to that point, the product is released into the market and then the chips will fall where they may.
At the end of the day, a product IS WHAT IT IS, and it will speak through the customer as to whether it is good or bad.
In the case of HOTWORX, our main product is the workouts. We let the workouts do the talking! Then we listen to the product through the voice of the customers. We may not hit it out of the park every time, but that is always our goal. When we need to adjust based on the feedback, we do so and keep moving forward.
Great products create great movements and the movement defines the mission!
A cause that evolves out of the gathering of like minded people is the most powerful mission there is. I call this a de facto mission.
The term De facto means:
“Something generally accepted or agreed to without any formal decision in its favor.” It is an adjective meaning: “in fact; in reality” (1)
In other words, a de facto mission is a purpose created in an organic way. In the case of HOTWORX, the de facto mission sprang forth out of the customers who delighted in the use of the innovative 3D Training Method which involves the use of exercise combined with a heat and infrared energy environment. The results for customers was and is amazing. Early on, it was very evident that they were getting much more out of their workouts in way less time than the trips to the other more traditional health clubs.
Many large and small businesses waste so much time, spending countless hours in meetings to create a contrived and lengthy, often esoteric corporate mission statement. And then, they go so far as to require their staff to memorize it. Sound old school?
An authentic, organic mission is the best way to ignite everlasting passion in a product or service! The language of the products and services will speak through the words of the customers who use them. If the designers have done their job, then the products and services will scream through the masses in the form of a multitude of 5 star ratings! This should be the goal. This is a grass roots approach opposed to the old school management in the sky method. When the product speaks in this way, then the true mission of the brand can be understood by management.
For HOTWORX, the true mission presented itself through the results that members were experiencing. What they experience is MORE WORKOUT in LESS TIME. Organic, and out of the customer base, a de facto mission statement materialized for HOTWORX…
MORE WORKOUT, LESS TIME!!!
