In a world now dominated by technology and nationwide services, companies have a tendency to lose touch with their social roots. As 1-800-FLOWERS.COM's CEO Jim McCann discusses, gone are the days of word-of-mouth advertising and, with it, a sense of community for many companies on the rise. McCann makes an effort to avoid this through what he describes as social consciousness. McCann works to keep the community conversation open in his own company, even as he sees an increase in success and his business gets bigger and busier.
"We face a host of enormous challenges in the world today--everything from climate change to hunger to economic turmoil. It’s not possible for any one entity to solve problems when they reach this scale, but it is still our responsibility to participate in the solutions--particularly in the discussions around new and better solutions that might be developed," said McCann. For 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, it's not enough to simply contribute money to good causes. They strive to participate in the conversation. They not only hunt for opportunities to connect with customers, but also for opportunities to connect their customers to one another and with their own community. Other growing companies can follow suit by ingraining a similar mentality of social consciousness into their own business practices.
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