The genuinely good attitude of the call centre rep when you call with a
routine question, that makes you feel that they actually care about their
job and their brand.
Or the consistently good advice and treatment you get in a particular store,
that makes you feel that you really are a “valued customer”.
These are examples of the silent, unseen events that drive brand loyalty and
have the potential to turn clients into advocates for your brand.
So why are many companies managing these activities out of their organizations?
Modern day brand management, especially on a mass scale, doesn’t do very well with these creative little variances. We like to put policies and procedures in place to keep the customer experience as consistent as possible. We want the phone answered with a specific phrase, or a standardized greeting used in our stores.
But in driving this kind of “regulation” into the brand, we’re also stamping out some of those creative, silent, often unseen behaviours that make a huge difference in brand loyalty.
We time call centre employees to the point that they rush through calls to land on the top of some scoresheet somewhere that ranks employee performance by call times. Only, clients aren’t even aware of call times – they just want the phone answered, to be treated well, and not to be hurried.
We standardize service down to a scoresheet that asks whether the employee greeted you in a specific way or offered you a receipt. I’m sure some of the brands I deal with greet me in a standard way – but I haven’t noticed it and it sure hasn’t made a difference in my loyalty to the brand.
The next time you survey your customers, how about asking them one simple question -- The last time you called or visited us, did we meet your expectations and treat you like a real person?
Managing brands and brand image is not always about instituting rules and regulations. Its about establishing parameters for behaviour, and then giving your people some room to go the extra mile.
You’d be surprised how many of your employees will.
