In the store, we sell clothing and other add-ons for our animals. Our philosophy is one of give and get: we encourage parents to give us their information so we can deliver relevant permission-based communications to them. MC: We want to keep customers engaged with the brand.
And in many cases, customers feel so connected it's like they're family.ĬS: What are some ways you have operationalized this ongoing dialog with customers and parents? Our store employees are the closest to the customers, so they know they have a very important job to keep the culture going. We conduct group interviews that use visualization techniques to help potential employees see themselves through the eyes of a child before they are hired. We hire and promote Build-A-Bear Workshop employees and managers who have the personality needed to maintain that customer-focused culture in all aspects of the business. I give out my email so people can contact me directly. We make ourselves available to customers.
We read letters from kids in every corporate meeting. We encourage them to write us letters, send us photos, and post stories about their adventures with their animals on our website.
We constantly engage customers in storytelling about their experiences. When adults can't afford to buy a bear, for instance, we give them things like sticker sheets and pins for their kids. To do that, we need to create a trusted relationship with customers. I believe that we don't sell products, we sell smiles. Since our inception, we've been all about the guest experience. Maxine Clark: We've always been a customer-centric organization. How do you involve the customer in the business? The company's success is rooted in imagination and experience. Customers literally walk through the process of making their own individual bear, then make a wish and give it a "heart" to bring it to (imaginary) life. Here, Clark shares insights on how developing a customer-focused culture leads to a successful business model, and how the next generation of Build-A-Bear Workshop will evolve while staying grounded in its core business strategy.Ĭustomer Strategist: The Build-A-Bear Workshop model is extremely personalized. She will remain on the board and assist incoming CEO Sharon Price John through the transition. This summer she is stepping down as CEB to focus on experiential education initiatives. It consistently ranks on Fortune magazine's Best 100 companies to work for, and in 2005 Fast Company named Clark a customer-centered leader.Ĭlark's passion is to enable experiences internally and externally to make advances in a number of areas. Build-A-Bear Workshop now has more than 400 retail outlets around the world and generated nearly $400 million in revenue in 2012. Build-A-Bear Workshop was born.Ĭlark has served as the company's leader and Chief Executive Bear (CEB) since its inception in 1997. Clark took the idea a step further, imagining a store focused on the experience and engagement of individual customers. "We should just make our own," said Katie. When they got to the store, there were none left. Sixteen years ago, Maxine Clark took her friend, Katie, shopping to get a stuffed animal.
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