As promised, today’s blog entry will be about our culture at Make It Work…
Make It Work is a very unique company. Employees first, customers next is one of concepts and I recently learned that Virgin America and Sir Richard Branson share this philosophy. Nice to know.
Simply put, if your employees love their jobs, they will love your customers. We offer back massages on Mondays, we have a “flip flop required” policy in the office which translates to comfortable clothes, great seating, bring your dog to work, enjoy lunch at your desk, Facebook, Twitter, email and whatever else floats your boat while you work. Our employees work in an environment that is fun, lively and productive. They all have wireless headsets and may often be found talking to a customer on the phone while bowling on a Wii. Why not? Do you honestly believe productivity is hampered by these activities?
While we can’t spend the entire day playing Rockband, we all need some fun in our day. If coming to the office at Make It Work is fun, then you look forward to it, rather than dread it. If the environment is warm, healthy, happy and positive, doesn’t this translate directly to productivity? Yep!
Make It Work is all about DELIGHTING our customers. We offer instant response, same day service, constant communication, real appointment times, no question refund policy–Virgin America-esque, Nordstrom-like, with an extra helping of In-N-Out Burger. We’ve been imitated, but never duplicated. We stick by these principles and we thrive as a result. Richard Branson said at a recent conference when asked what he looks for when starting a new venture, “We look for dumb, lazy companies that offer a product or service that we believe we can deliver better.” I couldn’t agree more!
We have over 32,000 cult-like customer testimonials at Make It Work and now you know why!
To the moon!
-Eric Greenspan
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Eric – Congrats on starting a blog (which I just learned from Ben Kuo’s blog). I am the founder & CEO of a boutique corporate law firm, and I just started blogging as well. Indeed, I think it’s an effective way of communicating your ideas/philosophy to your customers and team (as you have already demonstrated). Moreover, I love the quote from Richard Branson re “dumb, lazy companies.” I saw the same issue in the legal profession working at two major law firms in New York City. That’s why I moved out here California: to create a new business model for delivering legal services. The best of luck to you and your company. Cheers, Scott
Flip flops required is such a great concept. I recently launched my startup and hope we can grow to have such a cool work environment. Do you ever find employees taking advantage and becoming unproductive?
On a side note; Every single person working in customer service, especially the airline industry, should be required to work at Nordstrom. Great to model your approach after them!
Wayne…here’s how I see it…
Working in a happy, healthy environment, such as ours, is a privilege. If they take advantage, they only get one warning. On the flip side, we are privileged to have them, so when they perform, they are rewarded. It’s a simple formula. Regardless, if we lose or terminate someone, we invoke our “red carpet in, red carpet out…once an employee, always a friend…unless they steal from us” philosophy. Every single person at MIW must love being here, or it just doesn’t work. If they truly love the company, they usually will work towards bettering it.
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