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Here is a simple question …

Do your employees match your brand?

I have written at length about how the customer experience is the #1 factor in branding. Other than eCommerce, the customer experience is delivered by humans - your employees.  They are in contact with a customer at their most formidable time - where first impressions are created, comparisons to other brands are made, preconceived notions are validated or changed.

As such, your employees have a HUGE impact on your brand - and it usually is the details.  Some examples:

• The way they answer the phone.
• General tone and attitude
• Their appearance and dress.
• Do they smile?
• Do they genuinely like working for you?

All of these areas must match your Brand Core or you create gaps; gaps that customers fall in to and never come out.

So how do you solve this?  Jim Collins said it best in “Good to Great” - first who, then what.  In other words, it is not just about investing in customer service training, implementing a process, or using some sort of CRM.  It simply boils down creating the culture, then hiring the RIGHT people.  No process or system is flawless, but your culture can be - because in the right culture you can still make mistakes and your customers will still love you.

Finally, this is not about creating a bunch of “Stepford Wives” as employees - but it is about having people who match their personal brand with your company brand.

If you have an employee that doesn’t match your brand (and it will be pretty obvious), don’t agonize over it.  Just take care of it.  You both will be better off.

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