If your organization provides customer service of any kind, you’ve likely heard the phrase about a happy customer telling three friends and an unhappy one telling thirty. You’re also probably well familiar with the age-old maxim that the customer is always right. So often it is your customers’ interactions with staff that define the customer experience, which is why it’s so important to put stock in your employer brand.
Talent attraction and employee engagement, two products of a good employer brand, are not ends unto themselves. As long as your employer brand attracts top talent and encourages ongoing engagement, you will in turn see an increase in productivity, sales and positive brand association. Employees that work with people they respect and enjoy, and who have a voice in company matters, are happy employees. Your customers will notice, since highly engaged employees will go above and beyond to make an effort to delight them.
An authentic and well-articulated employer brand that is consistently experienced by your employees, therefore, results in an improved customer experience. It’s important to realize that this positive customer experience has a huge impact on both your consumer brand and your employer brand. Top talent wants to work for an organization that values people. Talent will flock to and flourish in an environment that puts them first and allows them to grow. On the other side, customers will only develop brand loyalty if you treat them right.
A great example of how employer branding impacts the customer experience, is in the restaurant trade. We’ve all experienced the treatment of a disengaged waiter — the long wait for your lukewarm meal, the grudging responses to your questions. It is enough to turn off a customer for life. It is not surprising then that many restaurants have a careful hiring policy when it comes to front of house staff and that they hold regular team meetings to build morale and ensure a consistent and enjoyable patron experience.
Examples exist everywhere there are customers; the office lifer who phones it in on a daily basis and is a drag on the morale of your team your customers; the sales floor slacker, who has no interest in service and makes himself scarce when a customer deign to enter the premises. In professional sports, players who are “good in the clubhouse” are highly prized, as they bring that intangible quality to the team. Far beyond physical feats and impressive statistics they boost morale, and are great ambassadors with both the press and the ultimate brand loyalists – the team’s fans.
If you create and maintain a strong employer brand that stimulates and attracts talent and creates a positive working environment, they will thrive in their jobs and shine with your customers. The customer experience will be remembered, and people will want to work for you, as much as others will choose to give you their business. Maintain your employer brand through an ongoing process of consultation and improvement, and you’ll position your company for success now and into the future. And your customers will appreciate it too.
About Blu Ivy Group
Blu Ivy Group is a leading employer branding and employee engagement consultancy that aligns your organization with contemporary workplace paradigms. Our mission is to help client’s build award-winning people practices, inspire extraordinary employee engagement, and cultivate unique and desirable workplaces. We provide integrated solutions in employer brand and engagement research, strategic consulting, employer brand integration, creative and talent communications.
Blu Ivy Group is a trusted partner to many of North America’s most respected employer brands. For more information, visit us online at bluivygroup.com or contact us at info@bluivygroup.com