From the Guardian:
The gospel according to Ikea teaches us that customer evangelism begins with with vision, passion, purpose, and evangelical zeal from the pulpit of the CEO. I normally don't like to include so much text in a blog post, but it's all really good stuff:
It is frequently observed that, for a broad demographic swathe of Britain, Ikea has designed our lives; it is almost as frequently noted that its customer service sucks, that the traffic jams outside its stores are intolerable, and its assembly instructions indecipherable. We love it and hate it, rely on it and satirise it, often simultaneously - as if it were not a shop at all, really, but something far more emotively substantial: a football team, or the Church of England, or the government. Attempting to quantify Ikea's spread across the planet is an exercise that swiftly induces dizziness. Last year, 310 million people visited Ikea worldwide. On some Sundays in Britain, according to one estimate, almost twice as many people visit a branch as attend church; it has been calculated that 10% of Europeans currently alive were conceived in one of Ikea's beds.Ikea has approached its world domination project with a missionary zeal - and, as far as it is possible to tell, it takes the missionary part literally. In 1976, (founder) Ingvar Kamprad crystallised his thinking in a hyperbolic tract entitled The Testament of a Furniture Dealer, setting out Ikea's "sacred concept", and waxing evangelical on the necessity of salvation. It was, he wrote, "our duty to expand ... Those who cannot or will not join us are to be pitied ... What we want to do, we can do and will do, together. A glorious future!"...
Kamprad, now 78, has long since ceded day-to-day control of the firm to others, but his obsessive personality, and his zealous frugality, have seeped into every corner of Ikea. Famously, even senior executives travel around Europe on budget airlines such as Easyjet, and always stay, they insist, in cut-price hotels. They recall with approval the rumour that Kamprad himself never takes a fizzy drink from a hotel minibar without also visiting a nearby supermarket, so as to replace it as cheaply as possible...
Ikea's moral crusade extends uncompromisingly to the customer. Whether you like it or not, it intends to teach you the value of good, honest, simple hard work. Self-assembly, viewed from this perspective, is more than a cost-cutting measure: it's a tool of evangelism, designed to make you sweat for your own edification. (And if all the pieces aren't in the box when you get it home, a cynic might add, well, then, the challenge is simply the greater.)...
The Ikea path to self-fulfilment is not, really, a matter of choice. "They have subtle techniques for encouraging compliance," argues Joe Kerr, head of the department of critical and historical studies at the Royal College of Art. "And in following them you become evangelists for Ikea. If you look at [police] interrogation techniques, for example, you see that one of the ways you break somebody's will is to get them to speak in your language. Once you've gone to a shop and asked for an Egg McMuffin, or a skinny grande latte, or a piece of Ikea furniture with a ludicrous name, you're putty in their hands."...
But if missing boxes and poor customer service explain the hate part of our love/hate relationship with Ikea, the love part, though real, remains much harder to pin down. Besides, after several days in Älmhult, I'm wondering whether I haven't missed the point. Reading Kamprad's quasi-religious writings, watching the glowing faces of zealous Ikea co-workers, one overriding fact becomes clear. True, you can love Ikea or hate it; you may feel both things at once. What is certain, though, is that Ikea loves you. This love is not unconditional - you're going to have to work for it, primarily by assembling furniture. But Ikea really does love you, with an intensity that can be unsettling. And it has big plans for your future together.
Where would you rather shop? A retail store that operated flawlessly but employed uninspired worker drones who clearly would rather be someplace else? Or a store that had its flaws but employed passionate, friendly people whose enthusiasm was infectious? There are pros and cons to both, of course, but I think most people like to feel inspired. There is so much same-ness in our lives, so much routine... when we encounter a genuine smile and a spark of passion, we are reignited ourselves. "A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle" (unattributed). The only reason why I continue to shop at CompUSA -- after innumerable problems with customer service -- is because of an absolutely delightful girl named Vanessa (and I usually have a hard time remembering names!) who bends over backwards for customers. Now imagine if that enthusiasm for customers were part of CompUSA's corporate bible, inspired by senior management and transmitted to all employees? There may continue to be customer service issues, but I'd venture to bet that customer loyalty and evangelism would skyrocket.
If the executive team isn't passionate about the company's mission, how enthusiastic can they expect their employees to be? And if employees do not exude passion, how can we expect anything more than apathy from customers? There's been so much written on corporate visions and missions, and they don't mean diddly-squat unless people can get passionate about them. What is the gospel according to your company?
A Glorious Future Indeed! Ran across this post today while doing research on a blog post of the same name for http://www.IKEAFANS.com/blog. Thanks for posting this!
Posted by: Susan Martin | December 02, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Great article! Just the one I was looking for the introduction in my bachelor thesis. I was wondering if you could help me to find a copy of A furniture dealers testament. I have a hard time getting a hold of this one. A copy in Swedish would work too. Thank you.
Posted by: Julia | April 09, 2008 at 03:57 AM
Hi,
Ikea are Great and Exellent.....!!!!!!
This are AN BS EN ISO 9001:2000(UK) Company For Design,Manf.,& Export of Antique Reproduction,Traditional,Handcrafted & Modern Furniture,Handicrafts in Worldwide.
Website:http://www.woodking24india.com/
Posted by: Keshavlal Mangubhai & Co(woodking24-India) | April 13, 2006 at 07:16 AM
Could you please dispher the international symbols on the bottom of the black, plastic, covered Ikea soup cups.There are five symbols, that I assume refer to microwavable, dishwasher safe, etc, but I don't understand what they say is okay and what is not.
Thank you for any info,
Jane
Posted by: Jane Wilcox | January 13, 2006 at 07:02 PM
Hi,
I am really really interested in "The Testament of a Furniture Dealer" of Kampard, but i can not the whole testament.
SO anyone can help me the full testatment with many thanks...
Kurt Binh
Posted by: kurtbinh | November 27, 2005 at 11:45 PM
I didn't experience this directly, but read it in the local paper and thought it was a neat little example...
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/04/BAGDS6F76T1.DTL
Managers locked down the Ikea store in East Palo Alto for 45 minutes Monday as police tried to find a man suspected of holding up a nearby bank.
While East Palo Alto police and San Mateo County sheriff's deputies searched Ikea's multilevel parking lot and the surrounding neighborhood for the suspect, the store treated approximately 150 customers to coffee and cookies.
...
Posted by: Steve Portigal | June 29, 2004 at 10:43 AM
Some other great examples of head honchos setting the tone for the entire company are Steve Jobs at Apple and Brin/Page at Google. Steve Jobs loves things that are elegant and sparse, and Apple's products reflect this deeply. As Ayn Rand might say, he is the "fountainhead" of Apple.
Posted by: Graham | June 29, 2004 at 08:54 AM
Great post, Jennifer. And a reoccuring theme in today's marketplace. I wonder where the concept of good customer service got lost...but it did, and bringing it back is not only vital to making sales, it's critical to building loyalty, which is the only way to be successful in business. It's interesting that you note the name of the person at CompUSA who keeps you loyal to them... Vanessa...a girl...is this because girls try harder? Or, because girls can intuitively sense what you need? Perhaps. I prefer to think that customer service is gender neutral-- in order to be really good at it, all one has to do is care. That gets inspired by the CEO and other corporate executives--if they care about their employees, the employees will care about the customer. Great to have you back, by the way. Missed your presence in the blog-o-sphere.
Posted by: Yvonne DiVita | June 29, 2004 at 07:55 AM