How Do Customers Touch your Brand? Understanding What's Important Can Make All the Difference. - Issue: 2003 Qtr 4
If your company sells a physical product, you’re probably focused on how it looks/feels/performs/lasts. But what about companies that sell services such as software, banks and insurance companies? Are they immune from negative brand contacts because they don’t sell a physical product? Hardly.
Whether your company sells widgets or services, your brand is not just what you sell — it’s your promise to deliver.
If you think about your brand from your customers’ perspective you might just see that there are many ways that they touch — and form opinions — about your brand. And some of these contacts can make or break a brand.
You may make the best widget in the world. It looks great, works great, and is competitively priced. But if you can’t deliver it on time, or your service record is checkered, your brand may be damaged, and your business punished.
For example, an office products company found out in research that their chairs were rated very poorly, when they knew objectively that they were as good or better than the competitors’ chairs. Why the poor ratings? Closer examination revealed that the company had a terrible on–time delivery record. It had nothing to do with product quality and everything to do with service quality.
Service providers aren’t immune to the pitfalls of below–the–radar brand contacts either. Consider the software company that develops great software, but ignores training. If customers are frustrated because they “can’t use the software” the brand suffers.
Just as retail stores often hire so–called mystery shoppers to visit their stores and grade them on their service, friendliness, efficiency and so forth, it’s always instructive to experience your brand from a customer perspective. Consider the automotive executive who drove a company car that was always maintained and serviced at headquarters. One holiday when he had engine trouble, he took it to the local dealer, and was very upset that he had to wait until the next day for his car to be fixed. Welcome to the club. He now knows what it feels like to be a customer of his company’s brand (and a victim of its dealer network).
So what’s the point here? It’s about the customer. And his or her perception of your brand. And when it comes to brands, even the little things can count. Like answering the phone promptly. Like not keeping people waiting in line. Like a smile. And an apology when things go wrong (fixing it promptly helps, too). Identify the little things and the big things that are important to your customers, and your brand can stand above its competitors.
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