Get In Alignment

We all know the benefits of keeping your spine in alignment with the rest of your body and how much better we feel, but it is also important to keep your business in alignment with your values. Apparently the CVS Drugstore chain knows this and took action to drop tobacco from its shelves by OCT 1 as it was not in alignment with its health care mission. For CVS, this means losing out on about $2 billion in sales annually. That’s a lot of dough!!

I applaud CVS. Not just because this move could help prevent over 65,000 premature deaths annually, but because they are being authentic to who they are. And while it could be a risky move, it helps to define their brand and send a message about what they believe in. CVS CEO Larry Merlo, (whose father died at age 57 of smoking related cancer),  may have used his own personal tragedy to influence the decision to discontinue selling tobacco products. Some might argue that your personal belief system has no place in business as evidenced in cases such as Chick Fil A and Walmart who have used the religious stance to defend their position.

I don’t want to get into a debate on any of these subjects, but our companies do reflect our core values, and consumers have a right to do business with you or not. But you can only be authentic when you are in alignment with who you really are. And it has been proven time and again, consumers want to do business with authentic companies.

xo, jan