Branding: A Mix of Marketing and Operations

Carolyn Jordan
February 14, 2005

When one thinks of branding, a slick marketing campaign and clever tagline are what frequently come to mind. At least that’s what several of our senior management team members here at the credit union thought as we carved out our branding initiative at this year’s long-range planning session. And while a creative marketing campaign and tagline are certainly critical components, we soon came to realize that branding is the culture being lived out each day by the employees of an organization. In our credit unions, the brand to a member is the experience created by the employees serving them in the branches and call centers.

Why is it that we will spend thousands of dollars on a branding campaign but often forget that the brand promise is often not carried out by those who are the most important—the front line? Just like we manage operations, the messages communicated by the sales and service personnel must be managed as well. Many front-line employees don’t truly understand the value of a member over a period of time or fully realize their role in “brand delivery.” They could well be “serving a client who might be worth $100,000 in revenue during the coming five years,” author Anders Gronstedt points out in his article “Living the Brand” (Communication World, September/October 2004).

Gronstedt writes that we must turn front-line employees into brand ambassadors. This is accomplished by using what he calls the four “S”s of living the brand—storytelling, simulating, selecting, and surveying employees. Unfortunately many companies miss opportunities to create brand ambassadors and miss the fact that it is equally important to include this in the branding strategy, along with all of the usual marketing components.

Storytelling

Storytelling is a universal tactic to engage and energize the troops. At an annual sales meeting, Avaya used the story of how a team saved an account after the client decided to turn over the business to a competitor. During the presentation of the story, the sales representatives were asked to give feedback on what they would do during each stage as the story progressed. They experienced the story at each path as it climaxed into a victory with the team reclaiming the business. How frequently do we share stories among our credit union troops to inspire and energize them? Do we have big annual sales meetings to celebrate and share our success?

Simulating

People learn by doing, so simulating successful employee-customer interactions automatically sets staff up for success. The simulation should be as close to real interactions as possible. This avoids the costly mistake of using live members to “practice” and risk losing business by creating a less than positive experience. It’s different now, thank goodness, but when I first came to the credit union industry, formal training was OTJ (on the job). I wonder how many members suffer when a credit union fails to see the value in establishing a training program that actually allows an employee to practice and simulate what happens when serving.

Volvo Cars uses online simulations to teach retail managers tactics on increasing brand awareness and sales. We talk about sales cultures repeatedly in credit unions, but how many of us really make sure we are coaching the coaches who are responsible for managing sales? Training and development programs that encompass simulations, role-playing, and sales skill practices for managers are a very effective way to build and develop the skills needed for the managers to ensure that the employees are performing their job according to the brand promise.

Selecting the Right Employee

Online simulations can also be used in implementing the third “S.” Forrest Lake Ford, a Minnesota-based auto dealer, places applicants in a web-based simulation as a sales rep and evaluates their performance. Here at Neighborhood Credit Union, we have prospective employees “sell” the interviewer an item chosen at random during the interview to determine the level of sales ability. We also conduct a phone interview, along with an in-person interview, with call-center applicants to ascertain their telephone personality.

Surveying Employees

We routinely survey members, but how often do we survey our employees? Credit unions may survey members regarding service at least quarterly, and many do this on a monthly basis. However, we think we are doing well if we formally survey our employees annually. And even when this is done, are we asking for feedback about the member experience?

Employees spend the majority of time with members and can give extremely valuable information on how to use, promote, and improve the brand. “Living the Brand” ends with a philosophy that is often preached but not always implemented: “The only source of sustainable competitive advantage in the 21st-century marketplace lies in strong customer relationships, which are built by employees on the front line.” Are we building up our employees so that they can build strong member relationships and thus “live” our brand?

Carolyn Jordan is senior vice president with Neighborhood Credit Union in Dallas, Texas and is also the CUNA OpSS Council’s communications chair. Contact her at 214-748-9393 or cjordan@myncu.com.