Every successful brand has a story to tell. Do you have one? Is it tight and coherent? Does everyone in the company know it by heart? The best brand ambassadors your business can possibly have are your employees. A recent research study performed by the global public relations company, MSL Group based in Paris, discovered that a customer connection is 25 times more likely to happen if the potential customer has been told about your company by an employee.
- The first thing your brand’s story needs to be is scripted but not so tightly that there is no room for spontaneity. Everyone pretty much knows what the business does but most really don’t know how to coherently express it to others or how everything fits together. Having a script can greatly enhance the brand ambassadorship of your employees.
- Make certain your story can be related to in human terms as in how your company is helping people and bringing added value into their lives every day. Make sure they know why what you do is important and relate the struggles and the triumphs of the company over the years. When people are just talking with people, it establishes a trust factor that is critical to the success of any business.
- Your story needs to be truthful and must reflect authenticity. Anyone can brag and make inflated statements. That isn’t what you want. You can leave all of that to the bumbling politicians. Your potential customers must know why you are successful. What is special about your company and why you are different from your rivals. Always remember, it’s not really about you. It’s about them and solving a problem for them or making their life better through your products or services.
- One of the most overlooked factors in the success of your business and the telling of your story’s brand is your hiring practices. Hiring people that will be a fit for your culture, and who will assimilate quickly, is truly the key to your success. Rather than just having employees you will have a team that can work brilliantly within your system and who knows exactly what the brand does and who know exactly how to spread the word to fuel company growth.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer