More on FrontPoint’s Core Values, plus a Little Disney Magic

Back in February I posted on an important aspect of FrontPoint culture - our Core Values. As a reminder, those values are:

• Build Trust
• Dream Big
• Be Awesome

And here’s what I said in that post…

Fundamental to our success is the role played by our core values, a set of formal behavioral guidelines that steer our actions and thought processes. These values are essential building blocks in how we treat our customers, how we treat each other, how we look at the opportunities available to us, and they help determine how the company is run, both strategically and on a day-to-day basis.

In an industry that is often known more for its bad behavior than good, FrontPoint’s Core Values really do make a difference. So I was pleasantly surprised when I attended a recent industry gathering, and heard a speaker talking our language. The event was hosted by Alarm.com, our interactive technology partner. You may know that Alarm.com literally wrote the book on advanced services for home security and home automation, and they still lead the field, as evidenced by the attendees at the conference: it  was a veritable “Who’s who” of the best alarm companies in the US.

It’s Not About the Rides

The keynote speaker at the conference was Dennis Snow, and he was great. His insights and anecdotes, were drawn mainly from his years of experience working at Disney, the Disney Institute, and Disney University. He provoked a lot of serious thought about company culture and what constitutes a successful approach to the customer. For instance, at the beginning of his talk, he asked a large audience for a show of hands for everyone who had been to Disney World. Not surprisingly, every hand went up.

Then Dennis asked for a single word describing what was best about the experience. Responses were varied, and immediate: service, cleanliness, signage, organization and layout… the list went on for a while. When we were done, he pointed out that not one person had mentioned the rides. All that money spent on building the attractions – some have pegged the cost of the Tower of Terror at roughly $100 million – and it’s not the rides that make the Disney experience so great. What an interesting lesson for companies who care about their reputation and repeat business!

Build Trust, Revisited

The theme Dennis developed is that rides are, for the most part, a commodity, and the way to create differentiation in the quality of experience is through world-class, consistent service. But what I liked the most was the emphasis Dennis placed on “looking through the lens of the customer” when designing each and every customer experience and interaction. And he even used the term “Build Trust.” Of course, little did Dennis know that he had repeated a FrontPoint Core Value, but it was a wonderful reinforcement for all the FrontPoint folks in attendance!

So now I’ll borrow again from that earlier post to complete the thought.

Clearly we have built trust with our customers, and we continue to do so: there’s just no other way to explain the loyalty and great reviews that keep coming in. And clearly we had to dream big to launch this enterprise in the first place, and continue the company’s amazing growth in a crowded and highly competitive industry. And when it comes to being awesome – well, that describes the way every person here at FrontPoint tries to be the best co-workers and service providers that they can be, in every way imaginable. It’s not surprising that FrontPoint was recently named a “Best Place to Work in Virginia,” for the second year in a row!

And you can bet that we’ll keep on living our core values every day, as FrontPoint continues to grow and prosper. We have the best customers in the world, and we want to keep earning their loyalty and those great reviews through every interaction we have with them.  FrontPoint, the leader in wireless home security, and the #1 ranked alarm company in the US.