You’ve allocated your advertising budget to reach your target customers, the vehicles in your fleet feature a compelling logo, and you have assembled a team of standout field technicians. But if this strikes you as a sufficient marketing strategy, you’re missing out on a powerful tool that you already have access to: turning employees into brand ambassadors for your company.
Brand ambassadors are invaluable, authentic ways to spread the word about your business. While a brand ambassador can be anyone who publicly promotes a brand, who better to represent your brand to the public than your employees? The key is not to formally ask anyone to take on this role, or worse yet, to mandate it. Instead, adopt an organic approach using these three guiding principles to turn employees into ambassadors for your company.
Recognize That Employees Are Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset
A business’s assets comprise more than inventory and equipment. Without your technicians, those other assets are worthless. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic, famously said, “Take care of your employees, and they’ll take care of your business” This takes the form of offering incentives for great performance and instilling a culture of diversity and acceptance. During more than two decades in human resources, I have seen firsthand that this maxim is as true for local businesses as it is for global companies.
Align Employees’ Core Values With Your Products and Services
Every company, whether B2C or B2B, provides products and services that affect customers’ productivity, and often, their peace of mind. Make sure that your employees understand the value you provide your customers by creating a clearly articulated mission — and share it with them regularly. Your mission statement should include the why behind what your business provides, as well as the values that you stand for. Communicate your mission statement during bi-monthly team meetings, and bring it to life by encouraging your employees to share their work-related experiences.
Empower Your Employees
When employees feel that their bosses respect them as professionals, they take pride not only in their own performance, but in the company as well. One way to demonstrate your respect for their professionalism is to empower them to make decisions and provide you candid feedback about what works and what doesn’t. Empowered employees are engaged employees, and engaged employees feel a personal connection to the businesses they work for, which positions them to be your best brand ambassadors.
Every interaction your customers have with your employees, whether with a helpful customer service rep who takes an extra minute to work around a family’s busy schedule or a service tech who repairs the HVAC system during a winter storm, creates an opportunity to promote your business’s brand. Take advantage of these opportunities by turning every employee into a brand ambassador, and you’ll soon see the benefits.
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