088: Rajendra Sisodia - Conscious Capitalism
Rajendra Sisodia, is an international speaker, a business professor, and an award-winning author. He has published eight books, including Conscious Capitalism, and over 100 academic articles. On the show, he discusses what conscious capitalism is and the difference it can make on your business.
What are you really getting from all the money you spend on customer retention? Customer loyalty and trust have been declining steadily, despite the fact that companies are spending more money. Is there a way we can make this system better? This was the question that sparked Rajendra’s journey on how to optimize spending and become more efficient.
Rajendra’s research over the years showed that we have a productivity crisis in marketing. There is something fundamentally wrong with the way we think about marketing. So, how do we do it right? Rajendra dived into companies who were getting fantastic results and retention all the while spending less.
Rajendra found that not only did customers love these companies, but their employees did too, and so did their suppliers. The pattern emerged that these companies were stakeholder-oriented and not shareholder-centric. They also all had purpose, and with that came better leaders and a caring company culture.
At the end, Rajendra fully expected that these companies with purpose would not have exceptional returns because it was not their main focus or driving objective to make ‘tons of money.’ He was wrong. They outperformed the market 9 to 1.
Rajendra was led to believe over the years prior to this research that if you showed any signs of being caring or compassionate, you would be walked all over — that being ‘nice’ was a sign of weakness. In fact, ‘nice’ companies were not only stronger but they were also resilient and more successful.
When Bill speaks with entrepreneurs and business owners in a good size room, maybe only about 10-20% of them understand what their life’s purpose is. Business guys just don’t get all that ‘purpose’ stuff, but so many businesses are transformed (on many levels) by being purposeful.
If you want to create win-win situations for your employees, suppliers, and customers, you have to give, give, and give. By creating this kind of environment, you receive a ton back and value systems get put in place that do not always have a byline monetary value on them, like high employee retention, satisfaction, engagement, and commitment to the bigger cause.
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