By Andrew Yenchik
I worked as an intern at
USAA this past summer. USAA is a Fortune 500 company that offers
financial services – banking, insurance, and investments – to persons and
families that have served or who are currently serving in the US Military. Part of my worked focused on creating and
developing USAA’s social media strategy.
The majority of my work centered on aligning the social media strategy
and tactics with the overall goals and direction of USAA. I think USAA is a picture-perfect example
Strategy Hierarchy as explained in Collis and Rukstad’s article “Can You Say
What Your Strategy Is?”1
USAA follows the
hierarchy of Mission, Values, Vision, and then Strategy. Fortunately, through a unique company
culture, I can recite each of the first three from memory.
Mission: USAA's mission is to facilitate the financial
security of its members, associates, and their families through provision of a
full range of highly competitive financial products and services; in so doing,
USAA seeks to be the provider of choice for the military community.
Values: Service, Loyalty, Honesty, and Integrity.
Vision: USAA seeks to be the provider of choice for
the military community. USAA will go
above for those that have gone beyond.
We know what it means to serve.
Why do I remember
these? Because USAA takes special care
to assure that each employee understands the Mission, Values, and Vision. Further – beyond a rote understanding – USAA encourages
and promotes adherence to and application of these statements and
standards. Every meeting and slide deck
at USAA begins with the Mission or Values.
Each USAA employee knows that it is more important to be honest or to focus
on the military member and their family rather than profit margins and
timetables. I like the following
statement from the ETB blog:
“No matter what it
says in corporate employee manuals or annual reports, consumers know the
mission of most companies: Make money for shareholders. It should not be
surprising that this mission fails to motivate affinity and advocacy. Some
companies, however, live by a higher calling. Apple, Google, Coca-Cola and
Wal-Mart all stand for something. They might not appeal to you specifically
(see prior bullet point), but these companies believe they have a mission
beyond selling products. USAA has a mission, and it's not just on its website. This mission is
the first slide in virtually every deck I saw as an employee. USAA's CEO begins
every Board meeting by reading it aloud. Employees can recite it. And I've seen
ideas killed when someone asks, "Does this fit our mission?" USAA's mission
is a way of life, and USAA members know this. It's why USAA has the highest Net Promoter Score
of any company in America.”2
If a company wants to
impact their direction and employees, there is no better way to do so than
through a powerful, succinct, and followed Mission, Values, and Vision. Such have impacted USAA – not only do they
have the highest Net
Promoter Score of any company in America, they also boast the highest
possible ratings from all three major rating agencies: A++ (Superior) from A.M. Best Co., highest of
16 possible ratings; Aaa (Exceptional) from Moody's Investors Service, highest of
21 possible ratings; AA+ (Very Strong) from Standard & Poor's, second
highest of 21 possible ratings.3
This powerful mix of
Misson, Vision, and Values drove the work I did on the social media strategy
and throughout the company. Decisions
and direction were made based on them.
Tough questions and close calls melted into easy choices. The actual Strategy – the Objective, Scope
and Advantage – fell into place. While I
can’t share all the details of the social media strategy, here is the basic
outline of what I worked on:
Do The Other Stuff Right: Having a
nice Facebook page isn’t enough. The
best social strategy is based on operational excellence, high customer
satisfaction, and sound financial strength.
Let’s do it right and then boast about it.
Hire Right: Social media wants people
who are passionate about USAA, the Mission, and the member. If those requirements are met, then social
media looks for those with passion, skills, and experience in social
media. Continually teach and train each
other on the latest, newest, and most impactful technologies and
platforms.
Focus on the Member: Sharpen
the messege and focus to the member.
Reverse the natural tendency to create something fun and exciting and
hope members will come. Instead,
participate in and support existing social communities. Be where members want you to be. Be present and active in all social channels
that members utilize.
Find the Right Member: Social
media is a key place to find new customers.
Keep the message consistent and true to the Mission, Values, and
Vision. Find those with similar needs,
attitudes, and desires.2
This social media
strategy is not that different from other strategies at USAA. Banking,
insurance, wealth management, and all other business units develop and follow
similar, specific strategies. The
combination of these well-defined and well-executed strategies has led to USAA
finding and expanding a strategic sweet spot.
Many, many competitors exist in the global financial services space. USAA has such a strong position because their
capabilities (serving the military member with high quality financial products
and services wherever they are) overlay perfectly with their customers needs
(to be served 24x7x365 from any country in the world, with family and children
at home, and where security and affordability are paramount). USAA could easily expand its membership to
allow anyone to sign-up. Instead, USAA
sticks to this sweet spot and sets it strategies to maintain this position.
Reviewing USAA’s
Mission, Values, and Vision make me feel that any company should be able to
easily replicate it. Further, I feel
that any company should be able to set their Mission, Values, Vision, and
Strategy fairly easily. However, this is
clearly not the case. Even rigorous
strategic planning processes, big data discoveries, and hiring the right
executives don’t guarantee the right mix.
Can you think of another company like USAA that is seeing soaring success
through a great blend of Mission, Values, Vision, and Strategy?
Or even more
exciting: can you think of a company
that is uber-successful and does not have a Mission, Values, Vision, and
Strategy according to the Harvard reading?
Are there companies that are breaking the mold and bucking the trend?
1. Collis and Rukstad, “Can You Say What Your
Strategy Is?” HBR April 2008.
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