Businesses That Engage

I just finished listening to Unreasonable Hospitality, the remarkable power of giving people more than they expect. Will Guidara tells the story of adding the experience of great hospitality to the taste of great food on his journey to gaining the status of the number one restaurant in the world. It’s a Kingdom message about hearts packaged in a secular story that never mentions God or His Kingdom. However, it does a perfect job of bringing home a spiritual theme that God loves – people have hearts and appreciate experiences that move them. So, I was left with the question:

What does this story look like when it does include God?
What’s the feel of a restaurant and staff when God’s presence is intentionally added to the menu?
How does this translate to every other owner or CEO aspiring to a Kingdom Business?

Our business depends on repeat customers and repeatable quality by our staff. Those two groups consist of the same kind of people with hearts longing to be engaged in something worthwhile. In fact, a staff whose hearts haven’t been engaged in the Kingdom purpose of the company will be going through the motions, incapable of authentically engaging customers. Your Kingdom business value is connected to the clarity and simplicity of your Kingdom purpose and your ability to invite others into it (engage their hearts). There are four stages:

#1. Invitation – People carry Kingdom purpose in their hearts that God has written there. What you offer has to prophetically resonate with the truth of what they are hearing. The best marketing intentionally communicates an authentic, truth-full purpose that resonates with the people you serve. The story of your purpose is really an invitation into their purpose, a shared purpose with you. Your business must help them reach something they want at a heart level. Your offer works when it resonates prophetically!

#2. Experience – People resonate with truth but don’t stop at the intellectual version. Truth is a story that you can put yourself into and experience, like a movie. People have to experience your purpose, try it, feel it, and see if there is any life in it for them. The biggest business question is, “How do you, your purpose, and your mission make people feel? None of us are selling the brilliant features of our products. We’re all selling how those features make people feel. And, we’re marketing the same message to our staff and customers (the same Kingdom purpose, your why).

#3. Value – The worth of your business purpose (even your own life) has to point to why it’s important. When people understand the why in your purpose and see the wisdom and power of it, they will share the portion of it that is already in their hearts. We are not converting people to our product or position with slick marketing; we are discovering what’s already in their hearts and cooperating with it. Shared purpose is the genius of Kingdom Business!

#4. Engagement – Engaging hearts in a shared, actionable purpose is the real goal of every business. When people connect via an experience at a heart level, they join, buy in, and buy. They, too, are empowered by the purpose we share. They are your team, guests, clients, and suppliers; everyone your purpose touches.

Kingdom Purpose is not the cheesy motivational pablum somebody pulled out of their ass and put on a poster. Purpose that is prophetically correct resonates in hearts. That’s how we discern it! The difference is black and white. Does it move you?

It all starts when you buy the purpose Father wrote in your heart! …when you connect the dots to your role in a Reformation of people, businesses, cities, and Nations! …when you engage as a son in doing what your Father is doing, share His and your purpose. That’s when your business will take off.

We help businesses transition to the joy and prosperity of Kingdom culture by leveraging their unique purpose to ignite their staff and customers. The fun begins with discovering the why God wrote in your heart. We holistically marry the cultural and practical side of sound business practices with 21 Silver Bullets. Cash flow results from a well-motivated staff and a wisely managed business. We have the resources to shift the culture and respond to the challenges.

There are two places to start: