In the We Teach Fashion group I set up on LinkedIn several months ago, we have now reached over 500 members and rising. When you're inside the group today, it says 502, but when looking from the outside before becoming a member, it says 550! LinkedIn says they are aware of this quirk, but frankly, I'm just glad to see it over 500!

This is a great achievement, to have so many people join us, raise their hand and shout fashion education resonates with them. It's time to celebrate that we have reached this milestone. I need to think about something we could do to mark the occasion. I'll come back with some ideas....but for now, this point in the group's evolution has prompted me to write this post and share with you something quite profound. Stay with me, dear reader, to uncover what I mean.

It's More Than Just the Numbers

Growing numbers are only one metric. Now we need to start leveraging our members' knowledge and experience to make a difference and drive engagement and community. And that is THE most difficult thing to do. Why? Because you can "take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." In other words, as the group's owner, I can't make members share their know-how or offer their advice and wisdom. That only comes from a place where individuals are willing to serve others, freely and openly. 

We all live hectic lives, often troubled with personal and professional demands that make it difficult to find the motivation to log into social media platforms and contribute anything meaningful. But that's exactly why we need to do it. We need to reach out and offer our support to those around us, struggling with the demands of their projects, jobs, careers, or business. And all it takes to relieve the pressure, to see a different way to manage the current reality is to have a different perspective shared, to have the wisdom of someone who has been there, done it and got the T-shirt (ethically sourced materials, zero waste design of course) to help them rise to and meet their challenges.

Everyone can make a difference to those around them, whether at home, in the workplace, in their communities or within a LinkedIn group. All it takes are the three magic ingredients of what I call AOK. And it's the simplest and most profound approach I've found that illustrates why some people make the difference and why others don't.

What is AOK?

AOK stands for attitude, opportunity, and knowledge and, in my opinion, is the minimum qualities required for success to be achieved in any situation. I'll explain why using an example within the retail fashion world.

All store owners want to build customer loyalty because they know that loyal customers shop with them more often, spend more when they do, cost less to serve, stay with them longer and refer friends and family.

So recruiting sales assistants with the right attitude means finding people who care, are helpful, friendly, approachable, considerate, motivated and willing to go the extra mile. Because without this type of attitude, it makes building customer loyalty way more difficult.

Attitude alone, though, doesn't guarantee success with your customer and those retail experiences that drive increased sales. Every great customer experience is born of opportunities that were spotted by individuals and teams serving their customers. Opportunities to go the extra mile. In every question to the customer, these opportunities are all around us, every call that is answered and every swipe of the card. All that's needed is to look and listen for these opportunities.

The employee with the wrong attitude rarely spots these opportunities and is unlikely to act even if she does.

The third quality from the AOK trio is knowledge. Our sales assistant needs to know how he can go the extra mile. He needs to know he is empowered to serve the customer to build loyalty and drives word of mouth referrals. Without the right knowledge, employees are stuck, frozen and unable to act beyond the standard process and service levels they do know about.

Sales assistants with the right attitude that know what they can do to delight the customer, BUT pay no attention to the opportunities around them will miss the chances and fail to build the customer loyalty brands so desperately want.

Those that know what to do and spot the opportunities but have a stinking attitude at worst or a nonchalant one at best fail to act because they just don't get it.

You can put this to the test in any service experience you have ever had. When it goes wrong, at least one of the three elements, A, O or K, was missing. Somebody either didn't care, didn't spot what needed to be done or didn't know how to do it.

And the opposite is true of great customer service when in every case, there will always have been someone involved with an ample helping of the right attitude, who spotted the opportunity and knew how to turn it into a customer winning experience.

AOK and The Rule of Three in Fashion

The same rule of three can be applied to anything in life. To a boss and her subordinates. To brands and their quest for market share and shareholder returns. To a designer that wants to offer a range of ethically produced, zero waste designs. And to members of LinkedIn groups. This brings me back to my first few paragraphs.

We have the power to help each other. To educate each other through short, illuminating supportive discussions that solve common issues we all face and drive change. And in an industry faced with enormous challenges and a desperate need to evolve into an ethically sustainable industry, education is at the heart of the solution.

All it takes is to adopt the right attitude, look for opportunities and know how to help.

Join Us in the We Teach Fashion LinkedIn Group

Together with our current group members, my fellow admins and I would love to have you join us in our LinkedIn Group. It's the fastest-growing fashion education group on the platform. Click here to join us.

Just remember to bring your AOK!

Cheryl Gregory is the Founder of The Fashion Student Hub, a marketplace for selling online fashion courses. We Teach Fashion teaching fashion subject experts how to create and promote their own online courses, generate revenue and serve the growing need for online education in the fashion sector.