Viva’s Blog: Are you using your most valuable assets?

As Peter Lewis, the late Chairman of Progressive Insurance used to say, “our most important assets walk up and down the stairs everyday.”

Savvy business leaders understand that strong brands aren’t built by the marketing department alone; every employee in an organization contributes to the health of the brand. That’s why it’s key to leverage employees as “brand ambassadors”.

For many organizations, the strength of the brand rests on the values and behaviors of its leaders and staff. Given ever-shrinking media budgets and hard to engage consumers, employee brand ambassadors have become an increasingly valuable marketing tool.

Consider Southwest Airlines
Voted the Travelers’ Choice best airline in 2014, Southwest continued its investment in employee training even during the recession. The airline’s spokesperson, Ed Stewart, explained the importance of instilling their culture into every newly hired employee: “Any airline can fly 737s to different cities, our secret weapon is people. We still had to invest in them.”

Why Amazon copied Zappos

Earlier this year, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced their Pay-to-Quit program, in which the company offers fulfillment center employees one-time payments to quit. Amazon borrowed the idea from Zappos, one of its subsidiaries, where “newbies”, employees who start a four-week training program, can receive a $2,000 bonus to leave the company. (Roughly 10% of employees take the offer.) So, why are companies offering new employees an incentive to quit?

The answer is simple. Unhappy people make for unsuccessful companies. Employees who are passionate about delivering something different, relevant and special help make companies great. By definition, no company is for everyone. It takes a certain personality to thrive at Southwest, Amazon, Zappos and likely at your company.

The concept’s not new

Many companies have understood the value of having cadres of well-trained brand loyalists serve customers. What’s new is the realization that every employee regardless of title or tenure needs to deeply understand and embrace the brand’s strategy.

How do you create employee brand ambassadors?

Step #1:  Hire fans.

It’s important to very carefully choose the people who represent your brand. While interviewing, does the candidate indicate a passion for your business, industry or customers? When you ask them why they love the company, is the response taken directly from your website? Sound generic? Brand evangelism has to be authentic. Ask candidates for an example of something your company did in the past few years that got them excited. You’ll quickly weed out candidates who don’t belong.

Is the tone and style of the candidate’s posts on their social media pages consistent with your brand? Would you feel great about the candidate representing your brand at an industry conference, your company party and even at the gym? Skills can be taught, passion can’t.

Step #2:  Make brand awareness a priority.

Gallup asked more than 3,000 randomly selected workers to assess their agreement with the statement “I know what my company stands for and what makes our brand different from competitors.” Only 41% of employees strongly agreed with this statement. Over half of those surveyed weren’t fully aware of their company’s brand positioning and differentiation. How can your team deliver on your business’ brand promise if they aren’t clear on what it is? It takes training and seeing leadership live the brand to effectively communicate what it’s about.

Step #3:  Involve employees in training new hires.

Instead of having a human resources representative go over the brand strategy with new hires, why not lean on your employee brand ambassadors? Pair up an employee with a new hire and suggest they chat about the brand. Encourage employees to schedule these talks at a nearby coffee shop or better yet, on a walk in a park.

Step #4:  Celebrate your employee brand ambassadors.

Don’t forget praise and prizes. It’s important to acknowledge passionate employees who enthusiastically promote your brand. A gift card, tickets to a concert or a day off for volunteering are just a few ways to make your fans feel special.

Transform brand ambassadors into superstars and provide them with an outlet to share their passion for the brand. Creating a “how to” video for customers? Include employees in a meaningful way. Discussing corporate culture on your blog? Feature how a new employee is discovering ways to improve your service. Then share the content with employees so they can post them on their social media pages.

Use your most valuable assets: your employees and their passion for your brand. It’s a win-win for everyone.