Branding has never been more important than it is today. The ever-changing dynamics of the digital age mean consumers have an abundance of choice, with each company ready to fulfill their needs.
Even though a lot of consumer transactions and interactions take place online, how businesses conduct themselves offline, often in real-time interactions leaves just as much of an impression.
Companies who operate with the understanding that a positive brand culture does impact customer service fair best and build something far greater than some ever thought was possible!
Take a look below at how some of the world’s largest brands foster a culture within their brands and how these components could be applied to any organisation to promote quality customer service.
A Happy Workforce Makes for Happy Customers
Businesses that take an interest in the happiness of their workforce reap the benefits of having employees that are both motivated and passionate about their work.
One of the biggest examples of a happy culture is Facebook. When asked just how Facebook is managing to continually scale its brand culture in correlation with business growth, founder Mark Zuckerberg responded with “It’s been a process over time of building a culture where people think about the mission in the same way that I do”.
Post-2012, Facebook produced the little red employee handbook filled with inspirational quotes, company history and a guide to the culture new recruits can expect and utilise during their time at the organisation.
Businesses that go out of their way to show they value their employees will see the benefits of that trickle down to service users to create a positive brand image and inspire engagement and help forge long-lasting connections.
Authenticity Aids Competition
Many large corporations saw losses over the last decade. While some speculated problems stemmed from a greater shift towards global e-commerce, on reflection we can see that the most successful brands were the one’s who were most authentic.
Making a sale is not an easy task in today’s economy, but companies who put the most time and effort into their customer service yield the biggest turnovers. Customer service actually starts with staff and policy makers rather than something that only occurs in support and sales negotiations.
Zappos is a company that realises your culture is your brand and that’s why all employees undergo the same 4-week customer service training programme regardless of the job role.
They pay their trainees for their time and offer them $2,000 if they quit before the end of the training period as they only want employees who share their company values.
Customer service to Zappos is more than selling clothes and accessories if they don’t teach their call centre representatives to see consumers as individuals and keep interactions authentic, they’re likely to sense the desperation to make a sale and this prompts buyers to feel as undervalued as the staff and they often go elsewhere.
Track, Measure, Succeed
With the business world becoming increasingly dependent on analytics, successful brands are using this data to their advantage. This helps to set company standards and if the team knows what is it expected of them they’ll strive to offer a better service in all areas.
Measuring customer satisfaction and implementing new ways to engage with customers ensures that brands consistently know what matters to their demographic and whether their current processes are effective.
Brands with the most loyal customers 2015 stats put Apple in 1st place. Apple uses customer surveys to generate some of the data needed to create brand matrices.
These include judgement questions to highlight demographic desires. Performance questions give feedback that impacts design and development, while multiple choice questions around brand imagery help structure marketing efforts.
Apple was built on passion and rather than have employees who understand core values, Steve Jobs was able to share his vision. They continue to drive brand culture at Apple with the workforce feeling empowered to better themselves, the organisation and provide a premium customer experience.
For a comprehensive template of how performance surveys enhance customer service click here.