At a recent brand communication workshop, a question left us thinking. “If a brand is about experience, when does the experience begin? When selling a product or service, when making a sales pitch or during customer service?”
If you are a brand that takes this definition seriously, then the experience begins whenever a user/ potential user/ stakeholder interacts with your brand. It begins when a potential customer calls your office to ask about your office timings, when your employee is networking at an event, and even when your office assistant gives the vendor his cheque.
So, as marketers and brand managers, you need to focus on much more than your brochures, websites and ads. You need to focus on the people who are your brand ambassadors – your colleagues and team members. For what they say and how, creates an impression about the brand they represent.
Start at the bottom
You call a travel agency. The receptionist politely takes down your contact details and promises to get an associate to call you in an hour. And the associate calls too. Aren’t you impressed? Contrast this with an agency where the receptionist curtly says, “We aren’t open yet. Call after an hour.”
Take-away: your support staff is often the first point of contact for many customers. Train them to interact well with all stakeholders – it is the first step towards creating a positive brand experience for your audience.
Get the small things right
You ask both agencies for a particular holiday package. One calls to tell you that they can’t support your requirements and offer similar options. The other agency can’t support the requirements either, but they don’t call at all. Which agency are you likely to call the next time you need help with travel plans?
Take-away: a good brand experience isn’t merely built on product sales or post-sales service. It’s built on interactions and impressions. Call or mail if you’ve promised to. Keep people informed. Follow-up and respond. These simple basics can make or mar the way people think of your brand.
Build impressions not leads
You don’t take the options the agency gives you. But they still wish you luck with your travel and ask if you need any other services. They give you additional information necessary for your holiday and offer to guide you to other service providers. Won’t you have a good word to speak about them?
Take-away: focus on building positive impressions and not just leads. It’s ok if you can’t make a sale. The positive impressions add up to make a great brand experience even before you’ve sold a product or service. And this could well get you that million dollar project.
