Are Your Employees Your Brand Ambassadors?

The recent media around Amazon’s disgruntled employees, regardless of whether the claims are true or not, should be something Jeff Bezos is very concerned about. The reason, however, is not why you might think.

It’s obvious – higher morale and fair treatment of employees increases productivity, which in turn increases profitability, but that’s not my point.

The influence of this story has already hit Amazon right where it counts – in its pocket book, because it’s the employees (not great marketing or PR) that influence the profitability of any organization, large or small.

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You might have the world’s best website or the most attractive marketing materials, but it only takes one bad customer experience to create a media frenzy, which is how great companies lose money, opportunity and brand loyalty. Who do you think is out there interacting with these customers each and every day, influencing their experiences? You guessed it, it’s the employees.

Consider your team of employees and ask yourself to what extent they are prepared to represent your brand and market your products and services – in essence, to become your brand ambassadors.

Here are five questions to use as a guide:

1. Do your employees recognize the value you offer and are they clear on how you are different from your competitors?

2. Do your employees speak highly of your company, its products and/or services? Do they present a positive image when out in public?

3. Have you ever educated your employees on how they can consistently deliver and add value to your customer’s experience?

4. Are you engaging in marketing activities that involve your employees? Do you connect different generations of employees in serving and interacting with different generations of customers?

5. Do you solicit employees to provide feedback that they receive from customers, good or bad? If so, how do you incorporate this information into better positioning or improving your products or services?

As I discuss in my forthcoming book from McGraw Hill “Operational Empowerment: Collaborate, Innovate and Engage to Beat the Competition,” employees truly can make or break a business. So what are you doing to build brand loyalty with your employees?