Waking up excited to go to work every morning is the exception to the rule in the business world, but not for David Salyers. A crowd of SMU students, alumni, professors, and members of the Dallas community gathered Wednesday evening to hear Salyers, Chick-fil-A’s Vice President of Marketing, speak at the ExxonMobil Lecture Series.
SMU’s Temerlin Advertising Institute hosted the event at the Angelika Film Center, where attendees received free drink tickets and were served complimentary Chick-fil-A before Mr. Salyers’ presentation.
He credits Chick-fil-A’s success to its simple but powerful mission statement, “Be Remarkable!” Chick-fil-A believes the secret to being remarkable is to focus on making a difference in the lives of its customers. Salyers explained that Chick-fil-A innovates rather than imitates its competition. He proceeded to pull out a $20 bill and smack it against his forehead.
“For the majority of vendors, you look like this”
The crowd laughed with him as he went on to claim this is “the fundamental problem with American business,” because businesses try to extract value from their customers rather than establishing long-term relationships.
“Relationships are appreciating assets, and a customer becomes an asset when they feel appreciated and invested,” he said.
Salyers wrapped up by handing out a “Remarkable!” coin to every audience member. Each individual coin has a unique design and is paired with an app. The point of this coin is to share your story on the app, then give the coin to someone else who will then share their story and so on. Salyers explained his hope is that these coins will help people realize that every individual has a story, and taking time to create lasting relationships promotes a better perspective in all aspects of life, including business.
Erin Hedrick, a second year SMU Masters student, shared her biggest takeaway from Salyers’ presentation.
“It’s easy to get caught up in short-term things, but if you want to be happy in life and in work you have to invest in something greater,” she said.
“For the majority of vendors, you look like this!”
The crowd laughed with him as he went on to claim this is “the fundamental problem with American business,” because businesses try to extract value from their customers rather than establishing long-term relationships.
“Relationships are appreciating assets, and a customer becomes an asset when they feel appreciated and invested.”
Salyers wrapped up by handing out a “Remarkable!” coin to every audience member. Each individual coin has a unique design and is paired with an app. The point of this coin is to share your story on the app, then give the coin to someone else who will then share their story and so on. Salyers explained his hope is that these coins will help people realize that every individual has a story, and taking time to create lasting relationships promotes a better perspective in all aspects of life, including business.
Erin Hedrick, a second year SMU Masters student shared her biggest takeaway from Salyers’ presentation.
“It’s easy to get caught up in short-term things, but if you want to be happy in life and in work you have to invest in something greater.”
