As you’re reading this, there is for the purposes of this article only 2 possible situations. You work for a company that does outside representation, or you don’t… (work; work for a company; work in a company that provides services or products or both).
But whether or not you do, I am assuming that you will be able to understand the initial thought behind this rant.
- Have you ever had to change lanes because a delivery was made, and the driver was unable to park the van somewhere it would not have an effect on other peoples’ time?
- Have you ever had someone overtaking you recklessly on a highway or anywhere for that matter, whilst the vehicle had clear markings?
- Have you ever been verbally abused by a driver of a branded vehicle?
If you can say yes to at least 1 of the above simple situations, then answer me this: how did it make you feel about the company that employs such slobs?
But this rant will not only focus on driving issues, as this may just as well have happened to you on the bus or in the street, where someone after work, but with a branded jacket or tshirt gave you a rough time (any real-life experiences more than welcome in the comment section by the way).
On the other end of the stick, companies have started monitoring their brands and their brand’s association. 1800-how’s my driving is one example that comes to mind, but so is the “This conversation will be recorded for training purposes”. But both of these are not always used for their ideal purposes, as the former is often used to rank their drivers, and the second is often used to train their callers in addon-selling.
To me, it seems logical that you would want this sort of feedback only for the one reason: ensure that there is a strong decrease in service failures, and there is a quick way for resolving any that might still occur.
Also, it seems logical to me that any customer-driven organisation should invest into these simple tools. The sword of Damokles in mind, and positive brand association alone, should be reason enough for them to invest (relatively little) in this.
Now to the trickier, self-reflecting, part: do you own clothes that are branded by your current employer, or do you even drive a branded company-car? Do you mention who you work for and whether you like it in discussions with other people? Hand on your heart, did you ever annoy someone whilst displaying your current employer or talk badly about your company?
The dogma today, with the soon-to-be-global use and presence of the internet, should be “everyone is in marketing”. Don’t loose your company that one critical sale, or how about winning your company that critical sale?
Today’s environment is a fast-paced one, and only the apt will make it in the long-term: marketing is everywhere!
