When a prospect calls your mortgage company and the receptionist projects an upbeat tone demonstrating a sincere desire to help that prospect, it is a reflection on your brand personality. Unfortunately, the same holds true if your receptionist is impersonal and cold. The fact is, every one of your people, and their interactions with your prospects and customers create the “real” brand of your company which is either consistent or inconsistent with your PR and marketing messaging.
When the image of your company is consistent with the actions of your people, your marketing efforts are in sync and your company is destined for success. When they are not, no matter how much marketing you do, you will lose sales opportunities. And, those customers will readily share their experiences across their social media channels.
A Harvard Business Review article, Brand is Culture, Culture is Brand, relates stories of how a brand shapes culture and how culture brings a brand to life.
The first step is identifying the unique characteristics of your brand that you and only you can offer to the marketplace. That becomes your brand promise. Then, you need to educate, motivate, and train your staff on how to deliver on that promise each and every day, especially when it is not easy to do. It’s true that you can judge the character of people and brands by how they act under stress. And this is why culture is so important when you need to have your brand promise delivered time after time. No excuses.
