So, I was invited to Burford School to share my thoughts with other local business owners on the topic of turning your customers into ambassadors. The idea of now sharing my presentation with you is that you can hopefully be inspired to look at your own brand and processes to figure out how you can do just that...
But first, I want to talk a bit about what ‘brand’ actually is…
What does brand mean?
Brand is more than your logo, your colours, your strap line, it’s not the physical representation of your business – it’s your reputation – it's what people say about you when you’re not in earshot…
Defining your brand can be very difficult, like being asked ‘what makes you different?’ What makes me as a copywriter, different from the next copywriter? Well, essentially, it’s my brand…
So, my brand as a sole trader is inextricably linked to my personality – it’s me, it’s how I conduct myself in different scenarios, how I cope with failure, how I react to success, and the impression I leave on people once I’ve gone.
To define me in terms of brand I would say that if you met me in a relatively relaxed atmosphere which most people do, you’ll find me to be humorous, helpful and insightful. When you work with me or get to know me better, then you’ll see I’m loyal, diligent, conscientious, ethical and quite frankly a delight to be around! That’s my brand of doing business.
But, your brand as a medium or large business is less about individual personality and more about how the individuals within the business uphold your values. It’s about having a shared purpose and an understanding on every level of process and procedure that helps you reach a defined outcome – which we hope, everyone in your organisation is aligned with – therefore continuing your brand across all arenas.
Using Burford School as an example, whether you’re a student, PE teacher, in the science department, a governor, or administrator, whether you are in school or in the pub, you all respect the same rules of conduct and procedures, applying the same values whilst striving towards the same defined outcome – in this case that is 'to deliver the best of education, getting excellent academic results without compromising wellbeing.' And I believe that care over wellbeing goes for both the students and the faculty.
OK, so that’s brand - what is an ambassador?
If you’re familiar with the customer journey, an ambassador is what every business wants a customer to become – it’s the end goal, the point of the whole journey is to find a customer who’ll go out there and sing your praises, do the selling for you essentially, bringing you new customers on their recommendation.
These are the people who are sharing your brand, these are the people who are forming your reputation. The teachers, the students, the parents, the businesses that partner with the school, the suppliers, everyone who comes into contact with the school experiences the brand and has the potential to become an ambassador.
Everyone who comes into contact with your business has the potential to become an ambassador.
I’ll just share a quick story by way of an example, if you’ll humour me.
I was a Burford School parent, I’m still a Burford School ambassador.
In fact, we chose Brize Norton pre-school because it was the way into Brize Norton primary school, which in turn was a feeder school for Burford. We chose Burford before we’d even visited, when our now 20-year-old university student, was an excitable 20-month-old toddler… Purely on reputation.
As a parent, I got the kids to school on time, they adhered to the school dress code, and I paid for trips and equipment and so on when asked to. That made me a customer. The girls signed the student agreement, I signed the parent agreement.
When my youngest ran out of thumb money, the school gave her a fiver to buy lunch, and they didn’t make me feel uncomfortable by demanding it back. When I couldn’t pick them up on time, the girls were allowed to use the library. When they had a mini meltdown over the sudden death of our cat just before the school run, the school gave them time to breathe and talk.
We were given opportunities to buy exam equipment at a reduced rate, we enjoyed top-notch concerts and Christmas Miscellany, and now as a local business owner I enjoy the networking opportunities afforded me…
That’s added value – that’s the stuff that goes beyond the contract, and that’s why I’m an ambassador.
Turning customers into ambassadors for your brand
Turning your customers into ambassadors requires what I call ‘soft touches’ as well as added value.
I’d encourage you at this point to have a think about your customers journey and what touch points, or points of contact you already have with your customers, and what opportunities you could take to give added value.
Let’s look at the top line of contact points.
And it generally goes like this:
Pre purchase – Quote, website, social media, point of sale display
What have they seen that has drawn them in? What’s caught their attention?
Purchase - Cash desk, telephone call, buy from your website, or meet you in person
What is that experience like for them?
After sale - Receipt, thank yous...
What is that experience like for them?!
But there’s more you can do to turn those customers into ambassadors with positive things to say about you. This is where your values come into play – are you sharing your values with your teams, customers and suppliers?
Are your ethics clearly communicated at all those touch points?
This is how you differentiate from the next company selling the same services as you…
When can you share your values?
In all your marketing – are your values clear within your teams, and communicated to your customers at every opportunity?
Customer care – Say thanks (and ask for a review so others can see the great experience they had)
Between sales ADDED VALUE – When you cross sell to complementary items, digital content offering advice on how to use the product, discount on next purchase, introductory offer for a friend, recognition of the purchase anniversary or birthday...
How healthy is your online reputation – What do you share online? What do you say about your customers on social media, and what do they say about you, and in Google Reviews? Do you keep your political, religious, football views to yourself?
Hopefully, if you’ve stuck to your defined brand of conducting business, and so has everyone within your business, you’ll be consistently sharing your values and find a growing number of ambassadors, because people talk, and customers talk the most!
Brand consistency
Speaking of consistency… People are easily confused, we are! And when it comes to brand if the message isn’t consistent, if the brand personality differs from one product or service to another, we will get confused, and that confusion breeds mistrust. It’s subtle but it happens…
The Cotswolds and Oxfordshire is rapidly developing in research and development, business and visitor experience so what can we learn from that?
Jeremy Clarkson is an excellent teacher – not a sentence I ever thought I’d say but here goes…
Jeremy is the brand. Top Gear and Clarkson’s Farm are the products.
Whilst Top Gear is a product for petrol heads who love the roar of an engine, Clarkson’s Farm is for people who appreciate the countryside and have a conscience about farming.
Whilst the two shows are remarkably different – the brand itself is consistent throughout. Watch either show and you know you’ll get Jeremy being a bit of a buffoon, but actually delivering quick-witted humour and education.
Jeremy’s brand is always honest, controversial, funny, and unique in its delivery – he’ll always try to bend the rules, there’s always antics and very often he pisses off his co-stars… And if you don’t like him, chances are you won’t like either show (or his newspaper column).
It’s that consistency across both products that prevents confusion, and actually builds trust. You know what you’re going to get when Jeremy’s involved.
Thinking point
Do you use AI in your marketing, copywriting and/or customer service? Can you tell the difference between human and AI interactions when you’re online?
A recent survey by PAN Communications stated that 51% of customers want less AI in their brand experience, and two-thirds of customers would leave a brand if it relied too much on AI for storytelling. That tells me that your customers can spot it.
While there is of course a place for AI in your business to help you scale and be more efficient and always available, people still rely on people for fostering brand loyalty - humanity over machinery.
My main takeaway from all this…
Find out what your customers think of you
What do your customers respond well to? Can you do more of the same, or something similar? Ask your customers what more they need from you. Ask how you made them feel… Send out a little survey on a newsletter for example, let them know you care about their opinions.
Be consistent
Share your values
Give added value where you can
Be human…
Because at the end of the day, a good customer experience is what turns a customer into a brand ambassador.
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