Will Your CEO Get Down on His or Her Knees?

Posted on | December 18, 2008 |

by Holly Buchanan

I recently wrote about the dangers of using your CEO as your marketing spokesman right now. With all the bad publicity CEO’s are getting lately, that’s a dangerous tactic. The public is in no mood to bond with a CEO.

Unless….

Is your CEO willing to get down on his knees and shine shoes to get customers?

Sound crazy? Well, this particular CEO does have a reputation for being pretty out-there.

But check it out. Guy Kawasaki is big in the tech/start-up world. You may recognize him as one of the key figures in Apple’s success. At a recent conference, Richard Branson asked Guy if he flew Virgin Airlines (which Richard owns). Guy admitted that he had not.

Well, Richard got down on his knees and started shining Guy’s shoe with his jacket. Now that’s service with a smile.

How many CEO’s do you know that would be willing to do anything to get a new customer? Even humbling themselves to shine shoes? Now, I know Branson was doing this as a joke, but I think there’s something to be learned here.

People in power can get caught up in this hierarchy thing. If you’re a CEO – you’re above your customers. That’s certainly the feeling I get. Women appreciate connection. I appreciate a CEO who’s going to treat me as an equal, as someone on the same level.

That’s why I found this picture of Richard Branson so powerful. What are you doing to get down on your knees and put your customers above you? What can you do or say to let them know your ego isn’t more important than they are? A great place to start is with your CEO. What he or she does and says makes a difference.

Just ask the big 3 automakers.

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