Branding and Customer Service
The Most Powerful Customer Service Tool
We live in a world where customer service tools have developed at the speed of light. From a technical standpoint, we should be much better equipped to handle all of our customer (and client) needs. Still, with the exception of a few notable organizations, customer service has remained flat, and generic customer service prevails.
So where does great customer service begin? It begins with the marketing department. Really. Do your customer service and technical support staff members understand your organizational or specific product brand, and its true value? When you train them to take care of clients and customers, do you concentrate solely on how they can accomplish their job tasks, or do you also convey why their role is critical?
Your customer service staff members represent not just the front line for technical, product or service questions, they are the first actual experience your clients and customers have with the brand that you have worked so hard to develop and convey.
Here are ways that management can communicate about a brand internally:
Communicate from your audience’s point of view. Use your internal brand communication to relate employee issues, concerns and aspirations about the brand. They will respond best during a potential conflict when they begin with a clear idea of why they are doing their job.
Use stories to give statistics meaning. Telling people the satisfaction numbers for their customer service department is far more effective when the message is enveloped with emotion that reflects the brand. Seek to alter off-brand attitudes through appealing to storytelling.
Be proactive and direct. Communicate personally about the importance of brand and how it relates to customer service. That is, email messages have far less impact than you (and other leaders) taking the time to let people know what is happening, and to remind them of the key brand messages that make your organization stand out. Be tireless in finding new ways to communicate these messages.
Remember that communication is multidimensional. Just telling employees what to care about is not enough. Ensure that your communication efforts are effective by varying the communication methods and giving staff opportunities to have their say. In short, engagement is key.
These days, branding is one of the most critical aspects of your business success. Even more, branding may be the powerful competitive advantage that you have been looking for. Each member of your organization should be aware of the company (or product) brand, and how they can offer internal customer service within the context of their own job.
Contact us for some free ideas about how to engage your staff in furthering and communicating your brand as well as an elegant and effective employee engagement process to create your line managers as students of how to take managing from being a hobby to take up after the " real " work is done.
Communication Strategy is a consulting firm located in New York City with affiliates through out the United States . We assist our clients in areas such as Employee Engagement, Customer Service Excellence , Meeting and Performance Management, Team Building , Leadership and Organizational Development.
Contact us at 212 362 5215 or info@communicationstrat.com
Contact: David Hellman (info@communicationstrat.com)
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