Are Your People naturally offering Engaging Service?
3D Engagement: Employee, Customer, Brand
Branding is not just for the Marketing Department. A brand is essentially the sum total of one’s experiences with a product or service. This means that anyone offering a glimpse into an organisation’s service or products is a brand ambassador, and may be the only representative of a brand that a particular customer ever meets.
Competitive advantage is often gained through HOW we do business, not just WHAT we deliver. Service, then, is critical to sustainable business practice. The most neglected element of great service to customers is the service-giver and the way his/her personal brand relates to the organisational, or employer, brand.
There is a limited amount of “outplacement” that can occur before capacity is impacted, and service levels drop, leading to decreased customer loyalty. If the focus shifts to engaging employees around brand values, high levels of personal performance result, and customers experience dynamic, sublime service. Engagement is seen in the attraction, retention, development and connection of both employees and customers, as well as the implied rewards, remuneration and impact on reputation. Harnessing social media and building a culture of trust and collaboration is also critical in the 21st Century work environment – and it’s not too late to align people around your strategy.
Do you have your best people at Critical Touch-points?
The most engaged brand ambassadors need to be at the frontline of your operations. Two of the most obvious, but neglected, touch-points are security and reception, for example. This is where the customer first encounters our brand, or the lack thereof. Outsourcing these roles is not wise. Each interaction reinforces brand perceptions, and the business relationship is either enhanced or adversely affected. Likewise, many organisations outsource their social media and Public Relations work, essentially giving their brand to someone else to develop and direct. Are you still on top of managing the heart of your business: awesome service, and the perceptions surrounding it?
Naturally, there also needs to be a focus on enabling managers to lead effectively and enabling systems to aid agility and swift turnaround times, instead of hindering these. Brand, Culture, Leadership, Engagement and Sustainability affect the bottom-line. How are you coping with the “Big Five” listed above? Are you entertaining conversations around brand management, competitiveness, retention, attraction, personal mastery and reputation? If not, we would love to help you initiate these dialogues effectively and build brand momentum.
In an ever-more-diverse workplace, effectively aligning generations, ethnic groups, genders and nationalities around a robust and compelling brand vision is a hallmark of success. Please get a reality-check on your effectiveness: your reputation should not be built by accident.
Sample Intervention: 3DEngagement
This intervention combines four facets of the learning process: assessment tools to gauge current levels of engagement, personal coaching, a 2-day workshop and workplace application. For this reason, sponsorship or buy-in from the executive team is a pre-requisite.
Sustainable competitive advantage is the focus of the intervention. This involves identifying keystones, excellent implementation of knowledge gained from customer and employee feedback and a culture of execution. The 3D Engagement process addresses the root causes of engagement failure, and helps leaders to focus on what really matters.
3D Engagement
Are Your People naturally offering Engaging Service?
3D Engagement: Employee, Customer, Brand
Branding is not just for the Marketing Department. A brand is essentially the sum total of one’s experiences with a product or service. This means that anyone offering a glimpse into an organisation’s service or products is a brand ambassador, and may be the only representative of a brand that a particular customer ever meets.
Competitive advantage is often gained through HOW we do business, not just WHAT we deliver. Service, then, is critical to sustainable business practice. The most neglected element of great service to customers is the service-giver and the way his/her personal brand relates to the organisational, or employer, brand.
There is a limited amount of “outplacement” that can occur before capacity is impacted, and service levels drop, leading to decreased customer loyalty. If the focus shifts to engaging employees around brand values, high levels of personal performance result, and customers experience dynamic, sublime service. Engagement is seen in the attraction, retention, development and connection of both employees and customers, as well as the implied rewards, remuneration and impact on reputation. Harnessing social media and building a culture of trust and collaboration is also critical in the 21st Century work environment – and it’s not too late to align people around your strategy.
Do you have your best people at Critical Touch-points?
The most engaged brand ambassadors need to be at the frontline of your operations. Two of the most obvious, but neglected, touch-points are security and reception, for example. This is where the customer first encounters our brand, or the lack thereof. Outsourcing these roles is not wise. Each interaction reinforces brand perceptions, and the business relationship is either enhanced or adversely affected. Likewise, many organisations outsource their social media and Public Relations work, essentially giving their brand to someone else to develop and direct. Are you still on top of managing the heart of your business: awesome service, and the perceptions surrounding it?
Naturally, there also needs to be a focus on enabling managers to lead effectively and enabling systems to aid agility and swift turnaround times, instead of hindering these. Brand, Culture, Leadership, Engagement and Sustainability affect the bottom-line. How are you coping with the “Big Five” listed above? Are you entertaining conversations around brand management, competitiveness, retention, attraction, personal mastery and reputation? If not, we would love to help you initiate these dialogues effectively and build brand momentum.
In an ever-more-diverse workplace, effectively aligning generations, ethnic groups, genders and nationalities around a robust and compelling brand vision is a hallmark of success. Please get a reality-check on your effectiveness: your reputation should not be built by accident.
Sample Intervention: 3D Engagement
This intervention combines four facets of the learning process: assessment tools to gauge current levels of engagement, personal coaching, a 2-day workshop and workplace application. For this reason, sponsorship or buy-in from the executive team is a pre-requisite.
Sustainable competitive advantage is the focus of the intervention. This involves identifying keystones, excellent implementation of knowledge gained from customer and employee feedback and a culture of execution. The 3D Engagement process addresses the root causes of engagement failure, and helps leaders to focus on what really matters.
Outcomes: Brand differentiation, Positioning, Customer-centricity, Reputation Management, Strategic Alignment.
Please contact us, if you are ready to maximise your brand’s impact.
idence