23 June 2012 IIT Delhi Executive Certificate Program
Oct 19, 2014
23 June 2012
IIT Delhi Executive Certificate Program
Padmaja Krishnan
Internal Branding and Corporate Communications
Connecting Employee Behavior and Customer Service with the Brand
Proposition
BRAND in Services Space
Establishing and Sustaining the BRAND is tough
It is an on-going, engaged process
Many Service providers are targeting both “Enterprises” and “Consumers”
Similar approaches may not work in the two worlds : B2B vs B2C
Service is a REAL TIME Experience
A service is experienced in real time as the service is being delivered – unlike a product
Hence the expectation mismatch manifests many folds
Expectation Mismatch leads to a negative spiral :
Tall Promises Expectation Mismatch
Dissatisfied Customer
Loss of Face & TRUST Adverse impact on BRAND
Low Employee Motivation
Poor Service +
The Positive Spiral
Realistic
Promises Meet the Expectations
Satisfied Customer
Builds TRUST Strengthens the BRAND
Motivates Employees
Right Service +
OUTCOME of an Intervention project
Ingrained in the CULTURE of the company were:
• Unrealistic Promises to secure Business
• Under-delivery on Promises
• Unpredictable services, Unhappy customers
• Breach of TRUST
All leading to loss of customers and business
Improvements were seen in 6-12 months
2 HARD directives were given
• We will NOT COMPRMISE on CUSTOMER SERVICE, once engaged
• We may walk away from business - if we cannot deliver satisfactory service
What is Brand
Your brand is your image and is the company’s most valuable asset
Brand is conveyed by every experience, product, action and employee over the life of the company
EVERYTHING originated by the company impacts the brand, from the product produced to the documents developed, to the employees answering the phone…
Brand creates an emotional experience – renders its human qualities to the organization
To be effective and to be uniquely recognized for something - A brand must be consistent
Why is Brand valuable ?
Brand identifies who you are, what you do and what you stand for
It is your Brand that sets you apart from your competition
Brand creates a desire or demand for your company’s products or services in the market place
What should Brand do ?
Your brand should define who you are to the individuals who matter most:
Your customers - Your prospective customers -Your employees (past, present, and future) – Your partners, vendors, investors ….
What else can Brand do ?
Brand gives employees a common understanding
of not only What we do for our living as a company,
but also How we do it
An employee who achieves this state of mind and practices it every day - “Lives the brand”
How to protect your Brand ?
Employees are the faces and voices of your company’s brand
Absolutely everyone in the company should understand the brand – its meaning, the values and the propositions
Employees will have more influence over your company’s brand image than anyone else or anything else that your company may do
What matters the most ?
Dave Olsen, Starbucks Chief Coffee Buyer was asked:
What is most important to the Starbucks brand…
Is it the coffee, the store or the people?
After thinking for a moment he answered, “Everything matters.”
Employees make all the difference
Starbucks Chairman & CEO Howard Schultz:
“Ultimately, Starbucks can’t flourish and win customers’ hearts without the passionate devotion of our employees…
Their passion and devotion is our number - one competitive advantage. Lose it, and we’ve lost the game.”
Product to Brand - Life Cycle
Employees Employees
Employees
Employees
Employees Employees Employees
& The HOW’s need to be
understood
Eventually …
The “Brand” becomes more distinct than the “Product”
It is firstly, A Name for identification & recognition
Secondly, it s a set of added values that offer both functional and psychological comfort or edge over its competitors
“If Coca Cola lost everything except ‘the formula’ and its brand name , it could still walk into any bank in the world and get $100 billion loan to start from scratch”
Fortune Magazine
The Miracle Happens
ONLY When employees
understand and behave the brand
Understanding the Brand
Will mean understanding the brand attributes, such as :
Name Logo
Colours Essence
Name : why this
name, associated
pride, origin etc…
Colors have meanings
Red is energetic
Blue is peaceful
Purple is Royalty
But essentially, a consumer is looking for the essence in a brand
Brand Essence
Stems from the “Brand idea”
Eg: Singular, Consistent, Fresh, Interesting
A brand essence must “leverage a compelling truth” o Linux stands for freedom and Microsoft stands for popularity
A brand should mean “ONE single powerful thing” :
The essence o Essence of Volvo is Safety
o Essence of Tata is Trust
o Raymond brands the complete man for over 2 decades
o Essence of Dettol is protection against germs
Brand Alignment
• Brand alignment is a critical driver of Business Strategy
• A complete brand alignment would mean that the Brand is
understood, expressed and internalized by every part of the company
Finance &
Admin
HR & RMG
IT & Systems
Marketing & CC
Service Lines
Business Units
Enablers
Business
Strategy
Brand
Strategy
Business
Growth
Behavioral Transformations in people
Transformation is essential for Brand alignment
TRANSFORM TO
Reactive Proactive
Account Centric Customer Centric
Tools & Technology
Business Outcome
Cost Centric Business Centric
Departmental Collaborative
Operations Management
People Management
Managers Leaders
& Transform Employees to Brand Ambassadors
Brand Alignment for Employees
• Generate excitement
• Build momentum
• Signal & Lead change
• Create brand advocates
• Establish personal relevance
• Sustain momentum
• Reward brand behavior
• Measure performance
• Align policies, programs
KNOW
YOUR
BRAND
BELIEVE
IN YOUR
BRAND
LIVE
YOUR
BRAND
ENGAGE
INFORM
ALIGN
Brand Policies
Performance
Measurement
Rewards &
Recognition
Brand
Workshops
Brand
Seminars Brand
Ambassador
Coaching
Pre-launch
Internal
Launch
Inform
Engage
Align
Brand Seeding
Google example
Google shared an article by its employee #16, Susan Wojcicki – some Highlights are :
• Strive for continual innovation, not instant perfection
• Look for ideas everywhere
• Share everything (with employees)
• Spark with imagination, fuel with data
As it says on our homepage, ‘I’m feeling lucky.’
That’s certainly how I feel coming to work every day, and something I never want to take for granted
June Launch
internal Brand awareness campaign
August Test & Validate
Campaign
October Integrated
Advertising, PR, Client
Communications & Web Campaigns
July Stakeholder briefings &
Internal Communications
October June July August September
Integrate Transformation & Corporate Communications
Conduct regular
Brand Audits
Internal Communications
Guess What the outcome can be ?
If only every employee who is servicing our customers “ Lives the Brand ” in every possible way !
In other words,
what if every employee became “The Brand Ambassador” of the company
“Brand behavior “ is same as “Living the Brand”
Moments of Truth
Each customer contact is called a “moment of truth”
Only employees have the ability to satisfy or dissatisfy the customer when they contact us.
A service recovery is an expensive process of satisfying a previously dissatisfied customer and bringing them back on track.
Dimensions of Service Quality
Reliability: Perform promised service dependably and accurately
Example: send service executive on time or status update every day at the same time
Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers promptly
Example: avoid keeping customers waiting without any reason
Dimensions of Service Quality
Assurance: Convey trust and confidence
Example: respect for customer, offer help and solution
Empathy: Approachable any time
Example: 24x7 customer relations
Tangibles: Facilities and demos
Example: Visits and free trials
Perceived Service Quality
Word of
mouth
Personal
needs
Past
experience
Expected
service
Perceived
service
Service Quality
Dimensions
Reliability
Responsiveness
Assurance
Empathy
Tangibles
Service Quality Outcome
1. Expectations exceeded
ES<PS (Quality surprise)
2. Expectations met
ES~PS (Satisfactory quality)
3. Expectations not met
ES>PS (Unacceptable quality)
Customer Service Quality Gaps
Customer
Perceptions
Customer
Expectations
Management Perception
Of Customer Expectations
Service
Delivery
Service
Standards
Customer
Satisfaction
Gap 1
Customer
Market Research
Gap 2
Design
Gap 3
Customer
Service Customer
Understanding
Service
Design
Conformance
Conformance
Gap 4
Service Quality
Gap 5
Customer
Management
The above Gaps are minimized by Employees “Who Live the Brand”
The aggregation of all the above Gaps when minimized
results in a Powerful Brand
Where does the Brand reside ?
In a mysterious
corner of the minds
of many, many
people who have
used, experienced
or heard about your
product / service
directly or indirectly
How do we influence their minds ?
There is a strong interlocking of …
BRAND
CUSTOMER
SERVICE
EMPLOYEES
In the minds of
people who are
in touch with you
and are
watching you !
Employee Engagement
Our brand relates to
EVERYTHING WE DO AND
SAY as a company IT UNIFIES
US
and distinguishes us
From our
competition
Executive Communications
Town Hall, VCs, Webcast, E-mails
News Letter
Employee Magazine
Brand Events – By Brand Ambassadors
Brand Compliance Audits & Quizzes
Brand Awareness Contests
Employee Blogs & Chat Forums
Poster Competitions
WHAT’s
& HOW’s
OUR PERFORMANCE
WHY SHOULD I KNOW OUR BRAND
Brand AWARENESS
will improve
& Market
SHARE
Through our
brand
we can build
a stronger
EMOTIONAL CONNECT
with our
clients
and employees
HOW CAN BRAND HELP ?
Its like a string of pearls – its precious – handle it with utmost care !
HOW CAN I HELP ?
Just Lend a shoulder to build the BRAND – Become a BRAND AMBASSADOR
Thank You !
Contact Padmaja Krishnan, Founder Director [email protected] t: +91 9811100858