Boost Customer Impressions Through Employee Engagement

To leave a lasting impression on customers, start by impressing your employees. When your staff grasp the ins and outs of the business and understand its direction, they naturally leave a positive mark on customers. Look at top-rated companies like FedEx, First Horizon National, Hampton Inn, and Homewood Suites. It's their well-informed workforce.

These companies' management teams have created internal marketing and communication programs to inspire and educate employees. Motivated workers bring energy and creativity to their roles. To ignite excitement in your team, focus on what I call the "four E's:" energizing, enabling, and empowering your team, and ensuring they meet objectives and receive recognition and rewards for their achievements.

Two methods to instill these traits in your employees.

• We believe in promoting a self-renewing corporate culture through continuous communication and employee recognition.
• Our goal is to establish a program with specific initiatives aimed at achieving our objectives.

Homewood Suites by Hilton faced a challenge: their brand needed a boost to regain lost market share and set the stage for future growth. In the extended-stay hotel market, where Homewood operates, sales had hit a plateau, with many of its 80 hotels operating below capacity. Even worse, both the public and Homewood's employees were unsure about the company's direction.

To tackle this, Homewood's executives opted for a complete rebranding from within. They kicked off a program aimed at training and recognizing employees to attract new talent and motivate the existing workforce. Communication was improved through regular conference calls among general managers, and sales directors who met specific goals were offered special training at company headquarters. Homewood also emphasized the importance of employees being themselves, believing that happy employees would naturally pass on positive vibes to guests. This focused approach paid off when the company received three industry awards in 2004, all based on glowing customer feedback.

Cultural Disorientation

When companies talk about changing their corporate culture in response to productivity issues or production errors, what do they mean by "corporate culture"?

Corporate culture encompasses leadership, values, history, and how business is conducted internally. Essentially, it's what shapes whether employees actively contribute to achieving company goals or simply stand by when extra effort is needed. Internal marketing plays a crucial role in molding corporate culture by bringing employees and management closer, strengthening the company's brand, and providing clear direction to employees.
Hewlett-Packard, known for its "The HP Way" culture, emphasizes hard work and mutual respect through extensive training and support. They aim to create "E employees" who deliver outstanding service.
Hampton Inn hostess milks cows; staff offers instant refunds.

Consider the story of a Hampton Inn breakfast hostess. One day, a truck driver transporting cows across the country faced a dilemma: his cows wouldn't stop mooing. The hostess, quick on her feet, realized they needed milking. She took it upon herself to milk the cows, easing their discomfort. This tale, often recounted by the president of Hampton Inn, highlights the extraordinary lengths employees will go to for customer satisfaction. At Hampton Inn, all staff are empowered to offer dissatisfied guests a free night's stay instantly, without waiting for manager approval.

Rare are the employees who possess unique qualities: they take risks, innovate, assist others, uphold trustworthiness, and find joy in their work and interactions with customers.

Encourage your employees to tackle customer issues and make critical decisions on the spot. Empowered employees behave like business owners, leveraging their authority to assist customers. In such setups, everyone emerges victorious. Take Southwest Airlines, for instance. Boasting the title of the most profitable airline globally, Southwest has never experienced a quarter of financial loss. Much of this success is attributed to its workforce, renowned for their dedication and job satisfaction. Your employees serve as the embodiment of your brand, effectively conveying your message to customers through their interactions.

FedEx Employee Support Saves the Day

In November 1998, the pilots' union at Federal Express threatened to strike. However, other FedEx employees had a different perspective. They believed in the company's mission of delivering goods to customers. Recognizing the potential harm a strike could cause, these employees mounted an internal campaign to show their support for the company. Their efforts paid off, and FedEx avoided a strike.

During the negotiations, FedEx's stock price rose due to the overwhelming support from employees and a separate public relations campaign aimed at shareholders and analysts. Internal surveys conducted by the company also revealed that customer service ratings reached their highest levels ever during the period of the threatened strike.

FedEx's strong employee support didn't just happen overnight. It came from years of internal marketing efforts, which strongly connect with how satisfied employees feel. When employees are happy, they develop a special bond with their employers that goes beyond just money"it's a powerful motivator in itself.

Keep Good People Close

Lowering employee turnover is a key goal for businesses, with clear financial consequences. A Gallup study estimated that a company with 10,000 employees could save up to $136 million per year by reducing turnover by just 5%. The same study revealed that disengaged employees cost companies about one-third of their salaries in lost productivity. Furthermore, 42 separate Gallup surveys showed that, at any time, roughly 75% of employees feel disconnected from their work. Many ultimately leave due to factors like limited growth opportunities, feeling undervalued, and sensing that their contributions lack impact.

When internal disagreements hinder productivity and market standing, management must intervene promptly. In the mid-1990s, MasterCard International faced this issue, aggravated by internal disputes within its management hierarchy. To address it, the company conducted offsite meetings with small groups of employees. Through this approach, they formed cross-functional teams. This effort proved successful, propelling MasterCard International to surpass Visa USA as the top credit card company in the U.S.

Boost Your Internal Brand

Your internal brand is how well-known you are within your company and how much your employees support you. When your company looks good from the inside, it's even more appealing to your customers.

To build a strong internal brand, prioritize promoting healthy employees. Offer a diverse "diet" of effective communication channels, "exercise" through ongoing training, and "snack breaks" with regular employee recognition.

Internal Branding Impact

• Raise brand awareness and maintain a consistent message.
• Uphold your company's culture and traditions.
• Enhance employees' skills to handle change and crises.
• Nurture a positive reputation to attract top talent.

To establish effective internal branding, maintaining consistency and repetition is key. Often, internal campaigns stem from external marketing efforts. Well-known companies like Coke, Sony, McDonald's, Nike, and Microsoft have all created employee communication programs closely linked to their advertising campaigns.
Alignment of Campaigns with Strategy

Ensure your internal and external campaigns align closely, as your employees should be the first to grasp your company's strategy. If your employees struggle to explain the strategy, it may indicate a lack of clarity in your plans. Understanding the company's business goals at all levels is crucial for successful implementation. Every employee contributes to delivering top-quality service, and any disruption in this chain can cause problems. This underscores why one high-tech executive emphasized the importance of even a dock worker who chooses not to drop a loaded carton as a significant marketing influence within the entire firm.
Create Your Message Clearly and Concisely
According to psychologist Abraham Maslow's famous theory, people have different needs, which influence how they behave. These needs range from basic things like food and shelter to emotional needs like love and respect, and even spiritual ones. How companies address these needs affects the messages they send to their employees.

Sending out messages that are clear and consistent is key to getting a good response from your employees. Keep your messages simple and make sure they match what your employees think about the company. If your messages are all over the place, it makes your internal marketing less effective and hurts your company's credibility.

Investment in Employee Development

It's one thing to talk about how great it is to work for a company, but it's even better when that company invests in improving its employees' skills. When a company spends time and money on training, it shows they're serious about helping their employees grow and do better at their jobs. Plus, good training programs attract talented people who want to work for a company that invests in them. For example, Singapore Airlines puts a whopping $100 million into training every year, making it the biggest part of their budget.

When it comes to training, different age groups have different needs. Adults usually know what they need to learn to get better at their jobs. So, it's a good idea to hold training sessions during work hours, making it easier for everyone to attend.

Training can come in many forms. Southwest Airlines offers employees the chance to experience each other's roles for a day through its popular "Walk a Mile" program; 75% of Southwest's 20,000 employees have taken part. Southwest's president, Herb Kelleher, notes that the program promotes "understanding and collaboration."

Another way to help employees learn is through coaching. It's more personal than group sessions and can create a strong connection between the coach and the employee. At IBM, everyone from top executives to regular workers gets coaching, and it even affects who gets promoted.