Work with people you want to live with.

Hello everyone. I am Hayashi, the representative of Monosus.

We have been serializing Open Marketing for 27 times over the past two years and three months.
With this 28th installment, I would like to bring this long-running series to an end.

This is one of the sections on this site with the fewest page views (laughs).
The reason I've been able to continue this far is because, very rarely, I'm a fan of this corner.
There were people who said to me, and sometimes I would like to have the opportunity to work with them.
I am truly grateful.

In this final installment, I would like to conclude the series by talking about why I decided to write Open Marketing.

Even if business performance improves, companies will not be happy.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this series, I have worked for a long time as a consultant, marketer, and planner, alongside marketing personnel and executives from a variety of companies.

Most of the projects were based on the theme of "how can we improve business performance and increase profits?"

We analyze the issues companies face from various angles, provide prescriptions,
If the client couldn't do it on their own, we worked closely with them until they were able to do it.

Some projects have been successful, others not so successful.
I think we have been able to achieve great results in some of our projects.
On the other hand, even though we have been pursuing project results,
Improved performance did not necessarily equal corporate happiness.

There is a deep-rooted fear among companies of poor performance,
In order to escape from this situation, we aim to improve our performance.
It is merely a temporary goal to escape from fear,
It is not an essential corporate purpose.
So, even though I was so eager to improve my performance when it was not going well, when it actually improved,
Time and again, we have seen signs of improvement that do not translate directly into happiness at work.

I still remember an exchange I had with the CEO of a certain company.

It's been more than seven years since then,
During a meeting with a certain manager,
He estimated and showed how much business performance would improve in three years' time if the proposed measures were properly implemented.

This was a huge boost to the company's performance,
The manager never looks happy.
Of course, they would say things like "That's great" and "That's enough if our performance improves that much," but to me it never seemed like they were genuinely happy.
In fact, it looked a bit painful.

That face stuck in my head, so at the next meeting,
I tried talking about it from a different angle.

"What kind of customers do you think you will attract through the measures you are going to implement?"

"If we can really attract such customers,
I think he's a very good customer for us."

"So, if you implement this policy, your company will only have good customers,
Moreover, if you provide good service to those customers, you will make a good profit.
How about that?”

"I couldn't be happier!"

He said, and his face instantly lit up.

For that manager, rather than improving business performance and saving money,
The number of customers who want to associate with me has increased,
I felt many times happier being surrounded by those people.

It was just a small exchange,
This is an important event for me.

Up until then, I had been asked to improve the company's performance,
I learned that simply increasing business performance does not make a company or the people who work there happy.
A company can only be truly fulfilled if
It is when a company gathers customers who care about the company and creates a relationship in which the company can also care about its customers.

When I realized this, the faces of many of the marketing people I had interacted with up until then came to mind.

Every month, they come up with a plan, make up some excuse to send out direct mail and e-mail newsletters,
They are happy or sad depending on the response rate, which is less than a few percent.
Sending birthday emails not to celebrate your customers, but to increase your own sales.
It all happens over and over again.
This is no exaggeration; I believe this is the reality in much of the marketing world.

If a relationship between a company and its customers can be created that is based on values, rather than a relationship based on money,
From continuing to come up with campaign plans that don't seem to have any meaning,
This may also help relieve the emptiness that comes with not being able to get customers to return.
Then, they will be able to focus on valuing the customers in front of them and on exploring products and services that they believe are good.
That's what I thought.

There are probably some people who think that making money through business is more important than others, but
There aren't many people who do it just to make money.
This is because at the entry point, deciding which business to start or which company to join, you choose for yourself from among the many options available and enter that world.

In other words, your interests and concerns will determine to a great extent what you choose to do for a living.

Despite this, it seems like there are so many companies and people that are using most of their resources to increase the numbers needed to maintain their business.

We have been exploring how to break out of this negative spiral, not only within our own company but also together with our client companies.

As a result, I came to the conclusion that
The idea is open marketing.

New strategies and unique ideas
Rather than changing into a completely different company,
Make the most of the inherent strengths of your products and services.

To achieve this, we must listen to the voices of our customers who truly appreciate our products and services.
To rediscover and purify our true value.

And to express that value without embellishing it, as if placing it gently.

By doing so, we can build lasting relationships with each and every customer who comes to visit us by properly listening and talking to them.

It is these ongoing relationships that keep our business going.
This is what I have been doing.

These efforts were not so much about transforming the company as it was about returning to our roots.

Companies do not need to dress up in new clothes and show off,
By trusting our customers and opening up to them, we can meet customers with whom we can build long-term relationships.

Offering what you truly believe to be good for others.
It's too easy to say, but
What many companies do is
Isn't it about providing others with what they think is good ?

Therefore, the more advanced marketing techniques become,
We tend to be drawn to what others think is good, and this makes us feel more and more miserable.

It's not the kind of thing where you start today and see results next month,
As you continue this for a year or two, the nature of the company will undoubtedly change.

Work with people you want to live with.

This is one of the most important words we hold dear at Monosus.

Rather than building relationships based on economic rationality,
We work on a personal level with people who share our values and respect each other.
We share these ideas as company rules.

This is not just for the members who work with us in the company,
I believe the same is true when it comes to relationships with customers.

"Living together" may sound a bit exaggerated,
"Spending time together" or "Sharing values together"
If you can work with customers who can build relationships based on that, your work will surely be fun.
I think it’s going to be a fulfilling experience.

I've had some wonderful encounters through this series.
You can truly "work with people who want to live together,"
I am truly grateful.

Thank you for your continued patronage over the years.
See you again on this Monosasu site.

June 29, 2018