Turning your employees into brand ambassadors
Sep 12, 2016- Great commercials, strong PR, a brilliant social media strategy all warrant effort when building your company’s brand. But there’s no better PR than an army of loyal employees living and breathing your brand. You know the type—folks with enthusiasm bursting from their veins—talking up your products and services with their friends at every bar, wedding and conference they attend. Yes, define your brand. Yes, advertise it. But don’t overlook the power of your employees as brand ambassadors. Your best employees want to be part of the inner circle. If you want them to act like owners of your brand, treat them as owners of your brand. Here’s how.
Acknowledge reality
Don’t blow smoke. They know your brand better than anyone and how it’s been received. Don’t sugar-coat the issues. Share your concerns and get them involved in fixing them. You might be able to sell exaggerations to your customers, but you cannot do that with employees. Acknowledge reality and let in on it too.
Listen to what they hear
Don’t discount their feedback as “noise”—really listen to what they’re hearing from customers. Nothing is more disconcerting that watching employees share relentless feedback in focus groups, and having executives finally pay attention when the consultant comes in and says the same thing.
Give them context
Share the bigger picture and dynamics of the parameters you’re up against. Creativity comes best when the constraints are clear. When your employees completely buy into the vision of the company, they are more likely to align their own visions to the larger picture. That way, the whole organisation is working as one entity, with one singular goal in mind.
Allow them to be the hero
There’s nothing more frustrating to a frontline employee than when an executive swoops in and does exactly what they would have done, but their hands were tied. Executives chalk this up to common sense that apparently they think they have, but they continue question whether anyone they’ve hired to service their customers
could possibly be that astute. Let your employees hog the limelight, it will
only reap benefits in the long run.
Give your employees a few opportunities (at least) to do what you would do in such circumstances. Can you imagine what would happen if you could replicate that level of prudence and critical thinking?
Treat them with deep respect
PR or HR or Staff or the VP ‘knows best’ never really plays well at the front line. Respect their perspective, and they’ll respect yours. If you only value the advice and perspectives of ‘experts’, you are setting up your employees to stop caring about the brands. Eventually their voices will get more muffled and the great feedback will stop all together.
Encourage them to speak in their own voice
Once this deeper understanding is established, you’ll be amazed at the insights and eloquence of the employees. Scripting may keep you out of trouble, but scripts never create the brands. Create an environment where the ownership of the employees is so much that they talk about the product as theirs and not theirs. Then, watch how they go to bat for your company.
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