This presentation is one of several that are part of The Future of the CMO/CXP Executive Education Series. An educational series hosted by OnMessage. ---- Culture: The Byproduct of Your Story and Strategy. To truly develop a culture that creates value, lasting business results and a differentiated customer experience, executives need to rethink how culture is formed. It’s not about Ping-Pong tables, free lunches and cool office spaces. It’s about clarity. Clarity in the company’s story — and in the company’s strategy.

1. July 21, 2016

2. The customer experience has become the competitive battleground for
business. By delivering a consistent, memorable experience, companies can
create a competitive advantage that increases customer engagement,
conversion, loyalty and advocacy.
Over the next three-to-five years, 75 percent of marketers say they will be
responsible for the end-to-end customer experience.
This series will provide CMOs and business executives with a deeper
understanding of the strategies and tactics required to deliver a superior
end-to-end customer experience.
/ About the Series

3. James F. O’Gara, CEO and Founder, OnMessage
/ About me
1,000s
of Hours Working
with CMOs / CEOs
HUNDREDS
of Emerging
Companies
DOZENS
of Fortune 500
Companies
25+ Yrs
Experience
Leading
Brands
Expertise and Experience
/ Customer research
and analysis
/ Corporate messaging
strategy and execution
/ Customer-centric
culture development
/ Go-to-market
strategic planning

4. About the sponsor.
OnMessage specializes in helping executives align and
activate their entire organization around a corporate strategy
and story that dramatically improves the customer experience.
Leveraging our disciplined methodology — executive teams
are able to crystallize their go-to-market strategy, formulate a
strategically aligned corporate messaging platform and ensure
every stakeholder understands how to activate the strategy
and story throughout the customer journey.
www.itsonmessage.com

5. / Upcoming sessions: August - October

6. / Upcoming sessions: November - December
Download the complete curriculum guide and
register for the entire series:
www.cmoeducationseries.com

7. Quick Recap
June Education Session

8. Establishing Executive
Alignment and Priorities
Around Your Company’s
Customer Experience.
JUNE SESSION RECAP

9. For customer experience (CX) to translate into
improved financial performance and become a
competitive advantage it must be embraced
enterprise-wide. It must be implemented in a
cross-functional manner — and, it has to be a
priority for the CEO and the entire C-suite.

10. Without CEO commitment …
CX … fails to gain traction in customer-facing
areas of the business.
CX … never receives executive support and
endorsement.
CX … never delivers material business results.

11. Without CEO commitment …
It’s never …
> Identified as a cornerstone of the business strategy
> Institutionalized and operationalized
> Infused into the company’s culture

12. Have difficult discussions. Ask tough questions.
Do you feel our
leaders have a deep
understanding of
the customer?
Is our company’s go-to-
market strategy rooted
in deep, meaningful
customer insights?
Is our product / service
roadmap driven by
current / future customer
requirements?
Are C-suite discussions
and decisions
consistently anchored in
meeting or exceeding
customer expectations?
Is our company’s
culture driven by a
deep and genuine
desire to deliver a
superior experience?
Do we have the people,
processes and
technologies in place to
create a superior customer
experience?

13. Customer
Centricity
1
You need your CEO to commit to 10 things.
Experience
Ownership
C-Suite Reporting
Relationship
3
C-Suite Funding
& Involvement
42
Leadership
Accountability
5 Organizational
Change
Clear Performance
Metrics
7
Measurement &
Reporting Systems
86
Realistic Time
to Impact
9 Sustained
Cadence
10

14. Educational Content and Tools
This worksheet will help you identify
additional commitment that may be
required from your CEO and C-suite to
successfully institutionalize and
operationalize Customer Experience
Management at your company.
“10 Commitments Every CEO
Must Make to Realize Customer
Experience Success.”

15. Today’s Topic:
Driving Organizational
Change in Support of the
Customer Experience.

16. “The state of your culture is in fact, the state of your
customer experience.”
~ OnMessage

17. Culture used to be a soft concept.
It used to be something executives would only pay
attention to when the business environment grew toxic.
In today’s world, this is changing — and in a big way.
/ Culture … yesterday.

18. Forward-thinking executives now view
culture as the surest way to establish a
competitive advantage because of its direct
impact on the customer experience.
They also realize the role culture plays in
the financial performance of the business.
/ Culture … today.
“Executives overwhelmingly
indicate that an effective
corporate culture is essential
for a company to thrive in the
modern business world.”
~ Professor Jillian Popadak,
The Fuqua School of Business
Duke University

19. Many still see culture as an HR issue.
They separate it from the company’s overall
go-to-market strategy and story. They view it
as something that is built in isolation.
Executives with this point of view rarely
develop a culture that positively impacts
employee engagement, the customer
experience or business results.
/ Not all executives get it.
“Leaders who delegate too much will
lose their opportunity to become role
models and energizers for the culture
they want to shape. Your choices
should reflect the company’s
strategic and operating priorities.”
~ Jon Katzenbach, Booz & Company

20. What is culture?
An organization’s culture consists of the values, beliefs,
attitudes, and behaviors that employees share and use
on a daily basis in their work. Culture is how employees
describe where they work, understand the business and
see themselves as part of the organization. Culture is
important because it drives decisions, actions, and
ultimately the overall performance of the organization.
Source: DecisionWise

21. Culture … simplified.
Culture is about shared values, beliefs, attitudes
and behaviors.
Culture is about how employees describe their
company and their role in the organization.
Culture is about driving decisions and actions
that positively impact business performance.
Keep these statements in mind today. It will become clear why culture
is not a thing, but rather the outcome of a few things done well.

22. Is culture really a C-suite priority?
84% of executives
agree that their
culture is critical
to business
success.
60% of executives
agree that culture
is more important
than strategy or
operating model.
So, yes?
SOURCE: PwC “Culture’s Role in Enabling Organizational Change” Report

23. Wait a minute …
95% of executives
say change is
needed in their
culture.
51% of executives
believe their
culture is in need
of a major overhaul.
SOURCE: PwC “Culture’s Role in Enabling Organizational Change” Report
What does this mean?

24. There is a real and material “gap”
between desire and reality. Between
the importance and positive impact of
culture on business today.

25. 90% of executives
said that culture was
important at their firms.
Only 15% of executives
said their culture was
where it needed to be.
Impact of Culture
ImportanceofCulture
SOURCE: Duke’s Fuqua School of Business

26. How do we bridge the gap?
Redefine executive’s view of what culture is.
Reconnect culture to the customer experience.
Reset the process by which culture is formed.
Make culture a “real” C-suite priority.

27. We must help executives understand …
Culture is not an “isolated” initiative.
Culture is not something that can be
“manufactured” apart from the
company’s story and strategy.

28. Culture is …
The manifestation of your company’s
story and strategy … in action.

29. Your story.
Clearly defines the
company’s purpose,
positioning, value
proposition and
promise to customers.
Your strategy.
Defines vision, mission,
values as well as the
associated actions,
investments and
initiatives required to
make that story a reality.

30. The challenge.
Most companies do not have a fully aligned,
documented corporate story and strategy.

31. As a result …
The company says
one thing in
external messaging
and another
through internal
communications.
Leaders make
decisions that do
not align with the
company’s core
values.
Executive teams roll
out strategic
initiatives that are in
conflict with the
company’s vision or
mission.
Inconsistent words and actions are culture killers.

32. Winning cultures are built on clarity.
Clarity in the
company’s story
Clarity in the
company’s strategy
Mindset Behavior
Culture

33. Your story frames
the mindset and
belief system
in your culture
When employees have a deep understanding of
what your company stands for, what it does and
how it creates value for customers, their
purpose becomes clear.
They feel more connected.
They believe what they do matters.
Clarity of purpose is a powerful motivator.
This is born from a clear, compelling and
consistent corporate story that aligns with your
go-to-market strategy.

34. Your strategy
drives behaviors
and actions in
your culture
When leaders and team members across the
organization understand how the strategy connects
with the story, congruent actions and decisions
unfold.
Your company’s vision, mission and values go beyond
words on paper and take on a life of their own.
Employees see how strategic decisions, investments
and initiatives connect with the story.
They understand how their marching orders align
with the bigger picture.

35. So the question is, what is the state of
your go-to-market story and strategy?
> Aligned
> Documented
> Consistently Communicated
> Internalized
> Operationalized

36. Question.
On a scale of 1-5
(5 being absolute
clarity), how clearly
does every employee
understand your
company’s story?
Story.
Your company’s
purpose, positioning,
value proposition and
promise to customers.

37. Question.
On a scale of 1-5
(5 being absolute
clarity), how clearly
does every employee
understand your
company’s strategy?
Strategy.
Vision, mission, values as
well as the associated
actions, investments and
initiatives required to
make that story a reality.

38. The degree of clarity, connectivity, consistency
and belief in your company’s story and
strategy plays a significant role in the type of
culture that takes root inside the business.

39. Questions you and
the executive team
must answer.

40. > Our company’s purpose?
> How we want to be positioned in the market?
> Who we are?
> What we do?
> The value we deliver?
> What makes us different in the market?
Do our
employees truly
understand and
believe in the
company’s
story?

41. > Vision?
> Mission?
> Values?
> Customer needs and desires?
> Promise to customers?
> Pillars of our go-to-market strategy?
Do our
employees
understand the
strategy and the
role they play in
executing it?

42. Executives that can answer these questions with a
resounding “yes” will most likely have built high-
performing cultures rooted in story and strategy.
Executives that answer “no” or don’t really
know the answers should take a hard look at the role
their company’s story and strategy play in their business.

43. Your story and strategy must become
more than just words on paper.
“Culture starts with leadership. Leaders have to set the parameters for culture and
then empower employees to act on the company's values and share with them what
the rules are. Then you have to disseminate it and get it down to the person who's
greeting the customer or answering the phone. If the only one who knows what
culture looks like is the leader, you're dead.”
~ Chester Elton, co-author of “What Motivates Me, All In” and “The Carrot Principle”

44. Clarity and Connectivity
are the Keys to a
Winning Culture.
When your story and strategy are clearly defined, documented
and fully infused into the company’s culture … magic happens.

45. “An effective culture is like an invisible hand at work
inside of each of the employees that helps to guide their
decisions and judgments in a way that the overall
corporation would desire it to be.”
~ Duke University Report

46. Why is your story and strategy
so critical to culture?
Without it there is nothing for your employees to connect with.
There is nothing shared from department to department, or
division to division. Well-appointed offices and break rooms will
fade with time. An emotional and cognitive connection with
your company’s purpose and promise will last forever.

47. How do you
achieve
emotional and
cognitive
engagement?
“A good leadership team and good
CEO will put in the processes to
make sure the message filters
down to the very bottom of the
organization unchanged.”
~ Executive Interview,
Duke Research Study

48. Message.
Process.
Unchanged.
Leveraging your story and strategy to produce a differentiated
culture requires consistent, sustained communication
throughout the employee and customer experience.

49. It requires a
fully aligned,
documented
story and
strategy
(message).
Strategy Story
Behaviors & Actions Mindset & Words
Vision:
Mission:
Values:
Customer needs and desires:
Promise to customers:
Go-to-market strategy:
Enterprise strategic pillars:
Divisional strategies:
Who we are:
What we do:
Our company’s purpose:
Positioning statement:
Value we deliver:
Key points of difference:
Our story:

50. It requires a disciplined
infusion strategy (process).
“If you ask 10 people at five different units questions about
purpose, message, value … do they say and believe the same
thing? Is there a strong sense of common beliefs? I think if people
say yes, then culture would have an influence and that would be
a good way to measure it, but if people said no, then culture is not
a prominent or important part of the company.”
~ Executive Interview, Duke Research Study

51. Strategy
Go-to-Market Planning & Strategic Initiatives
Leadership Communication & Actions
External Messaging / Marketing / Branding
Public Relations
Investor Relations
Employee Recruiting and Onboarding
Internal Communications
Employee Performance Reviews
Compensation / Incentive Programs
Internal Events, Awards and Recognition Programs
Story
Holistic Infusion Process.
A formal, sustained
initiative that ensures
every functional leader is
tasked with infusing the
story and strategy across
employee and customer
channels in their
respective areas of the
business.

52. Fully Aligned, Documented Story & Strategy
Leadership Decisions, Words and Actions
Strategic Initiatives & Investments
C-Suite Decision, Words & Actions
Internal Communication Programs
External Communication Programs
Incentives, Rewards & Recognition
Performance Reviews, Mentoring & Coaching
The CEO must hold leaders
across the enterprise
accountable for
implementing the infusion
process within their
respective area of the
business. This is crucial.
Internal and external
messages must align. If they
don’t, it will negatively impact
adoption and the culture you
are trying to build.
End-to-End,Top-to-BottomConnectivity
It requires clarity,
connectivity and
consistency (unchanged).

53. If you’re like 95% of executives that believe change is
needed in their company’s culture, it’s time to address
the root cause:
Lack of clarity in your story and strategy.
Because remember, your corporate culture is the
byproduct of your story and strategy — in action.

54. Questions?

55. Next Session: August 18
The Clubs of Prestonwood
(The Creek Clubhouse)
Dallas, Texas
Topic:
Extracting Business Value
From all Three Phases of
the Customer Experience

56. Thank you for coming.
Please complete your “Feedback Form” before you leave.
“10 Commitments Every CEO
Must Make to Realize Customer
Experience Success.”
As you leave, please pick up these valuable resources and educational materials:
“CEO Commitment
Assessment Worksheet.”
“The Secret to Creating a
Culture That Increases Employee
Engagement and Improves the
Customer Experience.”

57. About the sponsor.
OnMessage specializes in helping executives align and
activate their entire organization around a corporate strategy
and story that dramatically improves the customer experience.
Leveraging our disciplined methodology — executive teams
are able to crystallize their go-to-market strategy, formulate a
strategically aligned corporate messaging platform and ensure
every stakeholder understands how to activate the strategy
and story throughout the customer journey.
www.itsonmessage.com