The most powerful branding tool. Ever.

If I were to give you a tip on the most powerful tool any company has at their disposal to positively impact their brand, would you act on it? When companies talk about branding, they often turn to the standard creative elements. They conduct focus groups and prepare branding briefs before the first pixel is pushed into place on the logo. If you're really serious you have a whole identity package. But that's not branding, that's just a logo right? From there they create the marketing campaign. Print ads are created to build emotional connections with people, TV spots reinforce the company image and convey the same emotions. Hundreds of hours are spent planning the website, the information architecture, the experience design, the content. When it's all said and done you have one damn fine looking marketing campaign.

Most companies know that part (very few do it right). The part they don't get is the tool that I am talking about. Customer service. Customer service is so powerful that it can make up for bad products, downtime and inconvenience. Conversely, poor customer service can kill even the most well thought out, killer product or service.

A brand is the sum of the interactions with an entity over time. Still, the last interaction with a product or service usually sticks with us. How many times have you felt your opinion of a company turn sour when somebody in the store isn't helpful? How many times have you sat on hold waiting in line only to not really get the answer you're looking for?

The last interaction is the only one that matters.

So why is customer service so often overlooked as a branding tool? It's hard to get right. Here are some of the challenges:

• It takes time. Lots of time. Customer service takes training, dedication and people who are aligned with the company's goals. Time is money after all and most companies look at the short term outlay instead of the long term benefit of building customer loyalty and creating a great total brand experience.
• High turnover. Typically customer service is made up of entry level folks packed into small offices strapped to a phone 8 hours a day. Why not really turn to results-based incentives here? Why not dress up their work area so they have a great attitude and convey to your customers?
• Everyone is in customer service. This means the CEO, the VPs, the account people, the programmers, the designers, the administrative staff, everyone. This is a key shift in thinking that needs to take place. One off day for one person will have an impact on your brand image. The last interaction is the only one that matters. You may not get another chance.
• Not just for consumer packages goods. Customer service happens in every industry whether you label it customer service or not. Law firms, ad agencies, PR firms and accountants all are in customer service. The problem is that it's not ingrained in their corporate philosophy, they think it beneath them. That's the
• Too easy to rely on technology. No message board or crowd sourced solution can replace human interaction. Technology is a great way to give people access to basic, commonly asked questions. However, when a person's questions are not answered by those solutions they can be left frustrated. Have you ever tried to reach Flickr, Technorati or Feedburner to get a prompt answer to a question? They make it 100% impossible to talk to a human. Don't be like those guys.

I think David Armano summed it up well in his reply when I posted this on Twitter a couple of days ago.

How do you integrate this common sense into what you do? How can you improve your support system? What will you do NOW to take action to create a customer service culture?

What do you do to make sure every personal interaction is the best it can be?

Technorati Tags:
marketing, Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer, technology, customer service, branding

Comments

[Adam]

Great post Matt - I'd agree 100%...especially with sites like Consumerist.com and the fact that *everyone* has a voice

you know what they say - people with a good experience tell 3 people, people with a bad experience tell 2,000 people

[Carlos Saldivia]

Matt--just a great, great post!

[Dan Schawbel]

Matt, good job with this post. There is crazy opportunity now to brand customer service, especially because they have to interact with customers on a daily basis (point of contact).

Perception wise, a lot of people think that customer service comes from over seas now (india, china) and when they live in the US, they would rather talk to an American.

Good customer service is when you get fast results, not spending an hour on hold or getting transferred.

[Lewis Green]

Matt,

Right on! Ongoing attention to creating great customer experiences always represents our best tool for brand development as well as marketing and sales.

[Nader Ali-Hassan]

Matt,

Great post. I posted a response on my blog www.tradigitalist.com, but positive customer service is as simple as a thank you note...

[Julie McKinney]

Great post, Matt.

Good customer service needs to start with the people answering the phones and interacting directly with the customer. Eight hours in a cramped cubicle won’t get anyone excited about working for the company. Every person who interacts with customers needs to feel connected to the company, be rewarded and treated with respect. This will help the turnover issue, and hopefully, they’ll carry that respect on in their interactions with customers.

Like Dan said, good customer service has fast results. Fixing the turnover issue will increase efficiency of calls.

I agree about technology not being a replacement for human interaction. I see this all the time, and I’ve never bothered to take the time to submit a question online because I knew it’d get me no where.

[John-Scott Dixon]

Matt,

I am a fan of yours and the great David Armano - but I'm not 100% on board with your conclusion. Probably because it is so reactive. Technology now exists that can shift the power from the reactive stance of customer service to a proactive personalized branding experience.

We at Semanticator forgive you, as we have only recently begun talking about our Semantic Marketing technology ( http://www.semanticator.com ). :)

I say not 100%, because our technology can only help you with the branding that occurs online. And we all know there's a lot of branding happening offline. But, when a visitor arrives at a Semanticator-enabled website, the brand can be personalized down to a market segment, a persona or even the smallest niche at the end of Chris Anderson's "Long Tail"! When a sensationally meaningful and contextually relevant experience is delivered immediately upon a visitor's first engagement with your brand - it sets the stage for a wonderful relationship. This is the essence of the old adage, "You never get a second chance to make a good first impression."

[Matt Dickman]

Adam, Carlos, Dan, Nader and Julie -- Thanks so much for your comments!

[Matt Dickman]

John -- I think we're talking about slightly different things. You're keying in on experience design, which I agree is vitally important. It's great to see you're moving to this area of behavioral and adaptive experience.

It's true that if you do that right, you are being proactive in alleviating a lot of problems. BUT it isn't going to eliminate all of the problems and at the end of the day, the personal 1-to-1 experience is the most powerful.

For example, if I go to a site and it's tailored to my needs, but I can't get an answer to a question my brand perception will go down.

It's the same way in a store. If I am in a BestBuy and the whole store is positioned in a logical way where all of the things that I want are grouped together nicely with complementary items, but nobody will help me with a question, I am going to be mad and leave.

I am a huge technology fan and I think that we've not even had a glimpse into how powerful it can be, but personal interactions are still boss in my book.

[Allison]

Listening to every single customer is so important -- even if they are complaining, right or wrong.

One of my best customer service interactions has been with Nordstrom. Greg, my salesperson, looked forever during the busy holiday for this pair of boots that were sold out everywhere. He took the time and found me my size. Because he was so patient and helpful, I took the extra step and talked to his manager and e-mailed customer service about my experience. I'm hoping my positive comments were shared from top down.

My worst experience has been dealing with Time Warner Cable in Cleveland. Whether it's scheduling an "on-time visit" or correcting my faulty HBO that still isn't working properly, I continue to be disappointed by them and so do most of my friends.

[Matt Dickman]

Allison -- Thanks for those examples. They are perfect examples of two polar ends of the service culture. Nordstrom places huge value on service and they give their people the power to do whatever is right for the customer. I would guess they have an incentive to go above and beyond as well.

TW (like most cable companies) doesn't get the service end of things. They outsource a lot of the intalls, they bonus them on time vs. customer satisfaction and it is noticeable. What if every customer was given a follow up call to learn about their experience and reps were paid based on that. I think you'd see a different type of service don't you?

[John-Scott Dixon]

Matt,

Agreed - that's why I said not 100% on board! In your BestBuy example, what if your question was anticipated, and the BestAnswer was delivered to you as you walked through the door?

As an example, let's say you had been researching gaming systems and Blue Ray DVD players on CNet.com. Let's say you also visited both Sony.com and viewed the Playstation 3. And, you visited Nintendo.com viewing the Wii. Finally, let's say we also detected that you had visited Google's Product Search; searched for 'gaming system' and sorted by price: low to high. Now, imagine visiting BestBuy.com. What if rather than their one-size-fits-all home page featuring a hard drive, HDTV, laptop and portable GPS - you were greeted with a variety of gaming systems. Let's say the home page included a quick compare of PS3, Wii and XBox - pointing out that the PS3 is also a Blue Ray DVD player. And, finally, displaying a special rebate offer if you buy a PS3 today!

That is the kind of experience we are capable of delivering with Semanticator (http://www.semanticator.com). Our challenge is to not freak people out! But when done properly, it has the potential to overtake customer service or care as the most powerful branding tool.

I commented on Drew McLellan's blog post, "What are you overlooking?" (http://tinyurl.com/47dkdn) in a way that is relevant to our conversation here. I would be very interested in your comments there as well!

[Matt Dickman]

John -- I know what you're delivering on and it does go more to the overall experience which is great! (Are you reading my cookies btw? What if I have them disabled?)

Now you've provided me with targeted information and allowed me to do less work (still experience and yes, better overall service). What happens when I need to ask if the PS3 will work with my 42" JVC TV running through my Sony amplifier or if the Wii will work on a 10 foot projection screen in a conference room?

How do you deliver me the rest of the information I need past the point you're recommending the sale? Is that a phone call, Wiki, live chat, etc.?

[John-Scott Dixon]

Matt - we don't read cookies! We do rely on your browser history - but, we can't see everything it contains - just that which we've targeted.

You are absolutely correct that at some point - we have to rely on a human to interpret the specific issues of a prospect. My guess is you'll have a difficult time getting the information above from a BestBuy sales associate as well! :)

I'm just saying if we welcome people with meaningful, contextually relevant content each time they interact with our brands, it may reduce reliance on customer care to save the day. I'm not, in any way, advocating the elimination of the human element or the customer service function. My vision is a more complete, higher quality brand experience delivered at all touch points. And now, a verse from Kumbaya!