Radio Flyer's customers don't buy wagons; they buy joy and memories. When a brand's purpose flows through every touchpoint, from customer service to retail, it becomes something competitors can't copy.
When he would go to talk to customers, and that's really the key, is you can't as an organization define your differentiator. Your customers determine your differentiator. So, when he would go to talk with people and he would say, hey, I'm the CEO of Radio Flyer. What do you think of Radio Flyer? He said the first thing that always happened is people would smile. Big happy smile. And then, they would always launch into a story. And the story was never about I loved my wagon. The story was it wasn't a wagon. It was a flying carpet. It was a spaceship. We're going down the hills. I could remember the wind whipping through my hair. I could smell the grass. I had one of my clients who said their Radio Flyer wagon was actually the centerpiece at Christmas because it was such an integral part. They have the tree on and they would move it through the house. And so, what they realized was is they're not in the wagon business. They're in the smiles and memories business. And so, when they define that as their differentiator and purpose, we create smiles and lasting memories. Memories that last a lifetime. Everything they do from that point, every person in that organization understands what they need to do. So, if somebody's answering phone calls, when they're answering phone calls, yeah, they're trying to solve the problem on the phone. But the ultimate thing is that person has to leave with a smile and a lasting memory of that conversation. If you go into a store, even if you don't buy something, You should leave the store with a lasting memory and a smile. And I just love that because it's a capability that no one else can replicate. It is something which they can build on though and create new products and offerings.
