Coming up soon on the DishyMix podcast, an interview with Dov Seidman. Here is the first question in a series (from Ian to Dov) to whet your appetite.

Q: Ian Schafer, CEO, Deep Focus: “Inspiration is great, but many brands contemplating HOW to be more relevant to their customers (or potential customers) will need to change dramatically to become transparent enough to let consumers “in”. This change needs to be mandated from the top. What is it going to take for this sea change to happen at companies that have been used to doing things a certain way for the last 10, 30, 50 years? Who will be the agent(s) of change?”

A: Dov Seidman, Author of “HOW: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything…in Business (and in Life)”

It is not an existing or a new executive title who will champion nor protocols or processes that will implement a sea change. What companies need to do, if they accept the realities of our 21st century world, is to go to work on their cultures to take advantage of the new dynamics, not run from them.

I believe, in terms of being transparent – and actively transparent – with customers, it begins with a shift in mindset – from customer service to customer experience. That doesn’t mean hiring a CXO or mandating rules of engagement – those strategies are “whats” that can copied or reversed engineered.

Rather “how” a company engages with its customers and the authenticity, openness and the consistency of those engagements provides advantage and builds the kind trust that earns a reputation and keeps customers coming back.

Just within the past few weeks, I saw a study that said if the quality of service American consumers get in a store isn’t good enough, the majority say they’ll walk out, the majority say if they get bad service, they speak up, and the majority say a bad experience is reflected on the whole chain. Further, about eight in 10 consumers feel it is important to have the ability to talk to a live company representative, and 27% say they would even be willing to pay for the privilege.

In this type of retail environment, every employee knows they must answer the phone by the third ring, greet customers with the company tagline, direct customers to goods and services, often walking with them to ensure they find the goods they are looking to buy. That’s customer service. What I call out-behaving the competition is about what happens during the walk. It’s about interacting and connecting with customers in an authentic way that they are delighted in the experience and are served in the process.

So, how do you do “how”? It has to be ingrained in the culture. A single individual might have a tough time findings success in “how” in a company only concerned about “whats.” Executive leadership needs to focus on creating a company of leaders – not a separate department – who understand and are aligned on a set of values or principles for doing business. Companies that can start to create such environments, by engaging employees in corporate values, teaching new sets of skills, and creating environments that support values-based decision making, over what might be immediately profitable or easy, are the companies who will survive and thrive over the long term.

On a more practical level, if there’s a question you can’t answer for a customer, tell them and commit to finding that answer for them. If there’s something about a particular product or service you understand won’t meet their needs, be open about it. If you make a mistake, don’t be afraid to say you are sorry. In our world, it is these types of direct and open experiences that build trust and brand loyalty.

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