Tag Archives: Nordstrom

Your Legends Define Your Culture

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Your Legend Defines Your Company Culture

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

It was about 50 years ago, in or around the mid to late 1970s, when a brand’s legendary story was born. This true story perfectly articulates this brand’s culture. It perfectly demonstrates how empowered employees should act and defines how customers should be treated. The story is Nordstrom’s legendary tire story.

The short version of the story is that a customer brought a pair of tires into a Nordstrom store in Fairbanks, Alaska, and asked to return them. He insisted he purchased them at that location. Craig Trounce, the store associate who was working that day, gave the customer a refund.

Obviously, Nordstrom doesn’t sell tires—and never did. However, in 1975, Nordstrom purchased three retail stores owned by Northern Commercial Company, which did sell tires. Once Nordstrom took over the stores, it restocked them with its own inventory, which didn’t include tires.

According to the story on the Nordstrom website, “Instead of turning the tires away, Craig wanted to do right by the customer, who had driven more than 50 miles with the intention of returning these tires. Knowing little about how tires are priced, Craig called a tire company to get their thoughts on how much the tires were worth. He then gave the customer the estimated amount, took the tires and sent him on his way.”

That story became the legend that defines Nordstrom’s culture. So, as a leader of your organization, what story does your company or brand have that defines your culture? If you don’t have one, maybe it’s time to find it. And it’s never too late.

John W. Nordstrom and his partner, Carl F. Wallin, opened their first store, a shoe store, in 1901. It wasn’t until 22 years later that they had their second store. In 1963 the store expanded beyond shoes and started selling clothing, and in 1971, the company went public and officially changed its name to Nordstrom.

The point is that it took almost 75 years for a company that already had a reputation for delivering an excellent service experience to create its legend. This single act of customer service has been told countless times in training sessions, books, articles and keynote speeches. It’s not just about tires or refunds. It’s about empowering employees to make good decisions. It’s about emphasizing a company’s culture. And if you could monetize it, how much money would a company have to pay to generate the positive PR this created for Nordstrom?

Many other companies have similar stories. Some of the more recognizable brands with “legend status” stories can be found through a Google search and include the Zappos 10-hour phone call that some say is an all-time customer service call record, the story of how empowered employees at the Ritz-Carlton are allowed to spend up to $2,000 to solve guest problems and many more.

So, what’s your legend? And if you don’t know, how do you find it?

I’m going to bet there is some account of how someone in your organization responded to a customer or did something of note that is worth sharing and turning into your version of the Nordstrom tire story. That’s the place to start. And the best way to go about it is to simply ask every employee to share their favorite story about how they created an amazing experience for one of your customers.

In this first round, don’t make this a huge writing assignment. Just ask for a few sentences. From there, someone (or a team) will sift through the responses and look for five or 10 that stand out. You’re looking for:

  1. moments in which employees went above and beyond
  2. situations that perfectly demonstrate your values
  3. stories that are simple to tell but powerful in impact

Then go back to the sources of these stories and ask for more detail. In a short time, you’ll have several great stories to consider. And in the process, you’ll also discover ideas based on these stories to turn into “best practices” examples that other employees can learn from and emulate.

Your service legend doesn’t need to involve tires or thousand-dollar gestures. It simply needs to authentically represent who you are as a company and what you stand for. The best legends aren’t manufactured. They’re discovered in the everyday actions of employees who truly understand and embrace your culture. When you find your story, celebrate it, share it and let it inspire the next generation of customer service excellence in your organization. After all, somewhere in your company today, an employee might be creating the next legendary story that will define your culture for years to come.

Image Credit: Pexels

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

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Eliminating Customer Anxiety

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Eliminating Customer Anxiety

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

If you have been to a Disney theme park, you know about standing in long lines. There are also signs that tell you how long your wait will be. Guests like this.

When you use Uber or Lyft for transportation, they not only tell you how long before your driver arrives, they also show you a map where you can track how close (or far) the driver is from where you are waiting.

When you order anything from Amazon, you receive at least three emails. The moment you place an order, you receive an email confirmation. Another email shows up in your inbox to let you know your order has shipped. And then, another email is sent once the order arrives, sometimes with a picture of the box sitting on your porch. This is one of the reasons customers love Amazon.

Let’s stick with Amazon for a bit longer. It’s not really the multiple emails that customers love. It’s the information. And why is this information important? There are two (at least) byproducts from these emails that can’t be ignored.

  • The first is confidence. Without confidence, why would a customer want to do business with a company again? Confidence also comes from a predictable experience.
  • The second is eliminating – or at least reducing – anxiety. This takes confidence to a higher level. The sharing of information gives customers a sense of control.

In all three examples – Disney, Uber and Amazon – there is communication. Even if it’s over-communication, customers are drawn to companies that provide information that reduces their anxiety, whether they know it or not. And once a customer experiences the pleasure of an anxiety-free experience, again, whether they know it or not, they may question why they would consider doing business with a competitor.

Shep Hyken Customer Anxiety Cartoon

Not all customers will realize this right away, unless you tell them. Consider making it part of your value proposition. Nordstrom did this with their extremely liberal and hassle-free return policy. Lifetime warranties on products give customers confidence and reduce anxiety because they know will be taken care of if there is a problem.

For my entire career I’ve preached that good customer service and customer experience sets you apart from the competition. Customer Experience (CX) is table stakes. Customers want to do business with nice, knowledgeable people. Take that to the next level by being easy and convenient to work with, in essence, eliminating friction. And now I want you to consider the next step. Find ways to reduce and eliminate anxiety. When you put all three of these together – great service, convenience and low or no anxiety – you have a CX triple threat!

Image Credits: Pexels

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Why We Resist Change and How to Overcome It

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Deconstructing Fear

Why We Resist Change and How to Overcome It

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

In every organization, the journey of change and innovation is met with a familiar, often unspoken, adversary: fear. We label it as resistance, inertia, or a lack of buy-in. We try to overcome it with data, process flowcharts, and top-down mandates. But as a human-centered change and innovation thought leader, I’ve seen that these approaches often fail because they don’t address the root cause. We resist change not because we’re stubborn or lazy, but because we are fundamentally wired to find comfort in the known and to view the unknown with apprehension. Fear is the primary reason we resist change, and until we deconstruct and address it, our best-laid plans for innovation will be met with resistance.

Our brains are built to seek patterns, create routines, and predict outcomes. This evolutionary hardwiring has served us well, allowing us to conserve cognitive energy and navigate our world efficiently. However, in today’s environment of rapid technological and market disruption, this same wiring becomes a liability. Change shatters our routines and forces us into a state of cognitive overload. It introduces risk, uncertainty, and a loss of control. To inspire change, we must stop treating people like cogs in a machine and start treating them like the human beings they are, acknowledging their fears and creating a safe path forward.

The Four Faces of Fear in a Changing World

Resistance to change isn’t a monolith. It manifests in different forms, and understanding these “faces” is the first step to overcoming them:

  • Fear of the Unknown: This is the most fundamental fear. People are not afraid of change itself; they are afraid of what they don’t know about the change. What will my job look like? Will I be able to learn the new system? Will I be relevant? This uncertainty creates anxiety and a powerful desire to cling to the status quo.
  • Fear of Incompetence: Change often requires new skills. An employee who was an expert in the old system suddenly feels like a novice. This can trigger feelings of inadequacy and a fear of being exposed or replaced. It’s a threat to their professional identity and self-worth.
  • Fear of Losing Control: When a change is imposed from the top down, employees can feel powerless. They lose their sense of autonomy and agency, which can breed resentment and passive resistance. This is particularly true when they are not consulted or included in the decision-making process.
  • Fear of Failure and Retribution: Innovation and change require experimentation and a willingness to fail. But in many corporate cultures, failure is punished. Employees are hesitant to embrace new processes or ideas if they believe a mistake could lead to negative consequences for their career or reputation.

“You can’t mandate courage, but you can create an environment where it’s safe to be brave.”

Overcoming Fear with a Human-Centered Approach

To lead people through change, we must replace fear with a sense of safety, purpose, and empowerment. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Increase Transparency and Communication: Proactively and consistently communicate about the “why” and “what” of the change. Address the unknown by providing as much information as possible. Share the vision, the goals, and the benefits of the new path.
  2. Invest in New Skills (Address Incompetence): Provide training, mentorship, and continuous learning opportunities. Show employees that you are invested in their future and that you will give them the tools to succeed. Celebrate the learning process, not just the end result.
  3. Empower and Co-create (Restore Control): Involve employees in the change process. Ask for their input, solicit their ideas, and give them a voice in how the change is implemented. When people have a hand in creating the future, they are far more likely to embrace it.
  4. Create Psychological Safety (Reduce Fear of Failure): Leaders must actively create a culture where it’s safe to experiment and fail. Acknowledge that mistakes will happen. Celebrate the learning that comes from failure and show, through your actions, that risk-taking is a valued part of the process.

Case Study 1: The IBM Mainframe to Cloud Transition

The Challenge:

In the late 2000s, IBM faced a monumental challenge. Its core business was built on decades of expertise in mainframes and legacy IT infrastructure. However, the market was rapidly shifting to cloud computing and open-source solutions. The company needed its engineers—many of whom had spent their entire careers working with legacy systems—to embrace an entirely new technology stack. This was met with significant resistance, a mix of the fear of the unknown and the fear of incompetence.

The Fear-Deconstructing Approach:

Instead of a top-down mandate, IBM’s leadership created a systematic, human-centered approach to reskilling. They invested billions of dollars in a massive educational initiative, partnering with online learning platforms and universities. The key was not just providing courses, but also:

  • A Sense of Security: They made it clear that their existing workforce was their greatest asset and that the goal was to reskill, not replace.
  • Empowerment: They gave employees the autonomy to choose their own learning paths based on their interests and career goals.
  • Peer-to-Peer Learning: They fostered an internal culture where new knowledge was shared and celebrated, turning learning into a collaborative, non-threatening experience.

The Result:

By directly addressing the fears of incompetence and the unknown, IBM successfully reskilled thousands of employees. They transformed their workforce from a legacy-focused team into one capable of building a multi-billion-dollar cloud services business. They didn’t just tell their people to change; they gave them the tools, the purpose, and the psychological safety to do so, turning a potential liability into their greatest asset.

Case Study 2: The Nordstrom Digital Transformation

The Challenge:

Nordstrom, a storied retail company known for its exceptional in-store customer service, had to pivot to compete in an e-commerce-dominated world. The shift required store employees—who were masters of in-person interactions—to embrace technology, digital tools, and a more data-driven approach. The core challenge was not technological, but cultural: convincing a workforce whose identity was tied to the physical store to embrace a digital future without losing their human touch.

The Fear-Deconstructing Approach:

Nordstrom’s leadership understood the deep-seated fear of losing control and the fear that technology would dehumanize their legendary service. They addressed this by:

  • Co-creating the New Vision: They actively involved store employees in the development of new digital tools. Employees provided feedback on everything from the new point-of-sale system to the mobile apps, giving them a sense of ownership.
  • Highlighting the “Why”: Leaders communicated that technology was not a replacement for their human-centered service, but an enabler. The tools were designed to free up time from administrative tasks so employees could spend more time with customers, reinforcing their core identity.
  • Celebrating Small Wins: They rolled out changes incrementally and celebrated every successful pilot, showing employees that the new approach was working and that their input was valuable.

The Result:

Nordstrom’s digital transformation was successful because they didn’t just implement new technology; they led a cultural shift. By deconstructing the fear of change and empowering their employees as co-creators, they built a hybrid model where technology and human service work in harmony. The in-store employees became powerful ambassadors for the digital tools, proving that when you address the human element, even the most daunting change can be embraced as an opportunity for growth.

Conclusion: Leading with Empathy

Change is inevitable, but resistance is not. The most effective leaders are not those who force change upon their people, but those who guide them through it with empathy and understanding. By deconstructing the fears that fuel resistance—the fears of the unknown, of incompetence, of losing control, and of failure—we can create an environment where change is not a threat but a shared adventure.

The next time you face resistance to an innovation, stop and ask a different set of questions. What are my people afraid of? How can I give them more control? How can I make it safe for them to learn? By leading with a human-centered approach, we can move beyond simply managing change and start inspiring it, one courageous step at a time.

Extra Extra: Futurology is not fortune telling. Futurists use a scientific approach to create their deliverables, but a methodology and tools like those in FutureHacking™ can empower anyone to engage in futurology themselves.

Image credit: Pexels

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