4 Keys For Empowering Your Brand And Team
4 Keys For Empowering Your Brand And Team
Ensure Synergy Between Your Team Members and Your Brand.
Expert advice from John Ellis of Create Socially
We’ve all seen it before, or likely experienced it, when working on a team that delivers a product or service to the end consumer. A flaw or problem with a product or service leads either to a poor customer experience or worse, results in a canceled contract and a public review on Google or Facebook.
Regardless of if you’re a passionate team member working for a company you love or if you founded your company and serve as a C Level Executive, it’s safe to say that a review mentioning how pleased a customer is with the benefit and value of what you deliver to them is far better than a poor customer experience and review. Not to mention that even customers who don’t review you online are still guaranteed to share their thoughts and opinions offline, too.
Whether it’s an online review or word-of-mouth, we all want to “wow” our customers so they keep coming back and recommending us to those who can also benefit from our products and services. I’ve personally seen the importance of reviews skyrocket since the rise of social media giants like Facebook, B2B services like LinkedIn, and most recently the move from Google+ to the more mature big brother we call “Google Business.”
So, what does this have to do with an optimized brand and team? It literally means everything. In Jim Collins’ book Good to Great, he outlined several successful enterprises that stood out as superior. At the time it was published, Circuit City was among those included among the eleven featured. You likely know that the consumer (brick & mortar retail division) electronics company was liquidated in 2009 and eventually bought out by another company. Today, their website is run by Tiger Direct under a completely different model than what made their stock return worthy to be mentioned in the above book.
So, what exactly happened to Circuit City between 2001 and 2009? I propose several things, only a few of which I’ll note. First, a move away from fair compensation for their sales force. Second, a move away from the customer experience built around data. And third, failure to properly adapt to changes in their market.
At some point, those in charge of the heavy thinking at Circuit City started to miss the mark, and eventually, it led to a pattern of missteps from which it could not recover.
Meanwhile, others from the list in Good to Great continue to shine and grow like Wells Fargo, Walgreens, and Gillette. Yeah, you’ve heard of them and you know them. Wells Fargo focuses on banking, Walgreens concentrates on filling pharmacy prescriptions, and Gillette provides a good shave (but they better look out for their emerging Dollar Shave Club competitors who have a compelling subscription and pricing model).
To sum this all up, we’ve covered what a compelling team and message should look like more through what not to do, followed by a backdrop of a few nationwide companies who have (so far) stood the test of time for the last two decades. Success leaves clues. We can learn a lot from what makes these larger companies tick and from what gives them staying power in the marketplace. Take a look and you’ll find for similarities among them:
Organized teams and team structures
Clearly defined message and branding
Competitive pay for teams
Customer-centric pricing and products/services
These components, when properly combined, will give you an unfair advantage over your competition.
"If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand." - Howard Schultz
(This excerpt is taken from John Ellis’ all seminar entitled Optimize Your Brand & Energize Your Team.) I encourage you to click here to register for John Ellis’ live, in-person Optimize Your Brand & Energize Your Team seminar. On Thursday, April 7, 2022, from 9 AM to 12 noon Eastern Standard Time at the Comfort Suites in Manheim, PA. This event will also be available through live streaming.
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