CEO's in power

Something special is going on in the Netherlands. Not in The Hague, but in shops, because that's where it happens. Shops are becoming increasingly socially involved, reaching more people and getting closer to their customers. For many people, shops are important places. They go there every day in the millions, to meet, organically and casually. The influence that shops have on our society is greater than generally thought!

Within the walls of a store there is interaction, there is daily work on the store atmosphere and behavioral change. In shops we develop our manners, we create a standard for what we do and what we do not consider 'normal', as a pillar of what the Netherlands is today and how it will be remembered tomorrow.

CEOs hold Gold! They control the retail chains, determine the broad outline, give direction to what happens on the shop floor and thus influence what we consider 'normal'. If the shopping atmosphere hardens, it will have an impact on society. If shops embrace shoppers, shoppers embrace society.

I am delighted to see some CEOs seeing these great forces and taking the lead in this already evolving process. From sales driven sales staff to socially involved entrepreneurs who work on shops that our children will remember as that 'warm bath' they liked to go to. Stores that inspire and optimally respond to personal experience and know how to use this socially. How nice is it if you can fulfill such a valuable role from your CEO position? No minister can compete with that.

What does that do to revenue growth? It rises and goes beyond the boundaries of the graph! By investing in people and putting happiness first, a more pleasant social climate is created with happy salespeople who make customers happy. Research has shown that happy salespeople and happy customers cause 3.4-fold revenue growth (Source: Q&A research with John H. Fleming and Jim Asplund). I'd love to work on that!