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Okay, I’m not perfect. Never claimed to be. I got it right but it turned out to be only half right.
What I said was, “Don’t let the labor market dictate your hiring standards.” Sometimes I add the lament, “We hire people we don’t want for jobs they don’t want.” Both of those statements are right on the money, or at least half of it.
Several months ago I spoke to the operations folks of a major division of a Fortune 100 company. The very small audience was polite, attentive, and they had a check waiting at the end of the presentation. It was a pleasant end to a long, multi-client road trip. Nothing spectacular. No crowd of thousands. No upbeat walk-in music. No video projection on giant screens. Just me and them and a handful of simple ideas.
But they called soon after and hired me to present a couple of breakout sessions at their annual dealer meeting and again I had little expectation of anything beyond another pleasant afternoon casually sharing what we have learned about the relationship of customer service and the corresponding brand. At least, that’s what I expected.
Buns and I arrived at the hotel and in our usual workmanlike manner headed to check out the meeting room.
En route we were stopped several times and asked, “Have you seen Phil yet?”
“You have to see Phil!”
“Phil’s looking for you!”
Now I’m thinkin’, “I hope Phil isn’t upset with me. Do I owe Phil money? Who the hell is Phil?”
Phil. it turns out, is one of the smartest guys I know. Smart because Phil got the other half right. The other ‘half’ reads like this: “Don’t let the marketplace dictate your buying standards.” You can add the lament, “We use suppliers we don’t like to deliver service they clearly do not want to deliver.” (My words, not Phil’s.)
Phil had looked at the backside of the coin and decided to re-recruit his vendors. Cool!
Phil informed his vendors saying, “A company’s “brand” not only includes its logos and tag lines, it includes a set of consistent expectations… our brands are judged by the companies with whom we associate…we will be evaluating all of our service and product providers…(and) based on the results of this process we will consider changing suppliers.”
He continued by a.) listing the standards of expected performance and b.) providing materials to assist in conveying those standards to vendor staff members.
Phil wrote, “…I will be asking your field-support people what they have done to “wow” the customer and how their micro brand supports (our) customers.”
Imagine that! Making certain that the microbrands of your suppliers are congruent with your brand! And having the courage to say, “…we will consider changing suppliers.”
In another lifetime we owned a video production company. One of our key clients was a multi-billion dollar retailer. We did a ton of business with these folks and in the beginning the work was fun and challenging. We created a monthly television show with a live audience that made their training and other in-house communications entertaining as well as effective.
That was in the beginning.
A new VP of Operations came on board and felt a need to micromanage every decision. He was abusive and arrogant, a real prince.
So we fired them.
Our letter read something like this:
You’re Fired!
Our corporate policy is to work with clients who are enthusiastic and quality minded. We look for projects that are challenging and fun. We like to be rewarded commensurate to our contribution.
You are failing on all three of those requirements and our relationship is terminated effective immediately. Your master tapes will be delivered via certified mail.
Big Point: MicroBrands work together to create a composite expectation. The MicroBrands that influence your brand include those of your employees, your vendors and service providers, and even your customers. Make certain that all of your MicroBrands are congruent with who you are… and who you want to be!
For a bird’s eye view of a MicroBranding exercise, follow along as Aricia LaFrance and I work on her personal brand via email.