Creating Buzz with your employees
It’s too easy when thinking about creating buzz for a product to focus on all the external things, the stories and PR you can put out, the content that can be created and distributed, the ads you want people to talk about. But for any company that is more than just a material product, that employ people, they could be your most important source of buzz, especially the long term reputation building stuff.
Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun, writes a brilliant piece about the service he received from 2 hotels the night of his wedding. The first one, with whom he had a reservation, failed to fulfil it and were then rude to the party. The second welcomed them on the fly and went out of their way to make them feel special.
He opened the lobby, turned on all the lights, and recruited a couple employees to reopen the bar, and make us feel at home. They served us until the wee hours of the morning, put up with our noisy reunion, then put my wife and me in a beautiful room, and found other rooms for our friends. They managed to put a handwritten note in our room, “Congratulations,” it said, next to a bottle of champagne. I don’t remember what they charged us – I remember feeling like it was nowhere near their going rate. The following morning, fresh faces at the checkout desk somehow knew to offer their best wishes.
So guess which hotel he now recommends.
Needless to say, I will now go out of my way to stay in their hotels. I recommend them to my friends. I am a huge fan. Even when their brand breaks their promise, I dutifully fill out my room survey to help them improve. I want them to win, I’m an evangelist. It’s not a promise, it’s a cause. They are the white hats, I’m on a mission to see them succeed.
The other guys? The other hotel? I never think of them. I don’t bad mouth them, life’s too short for that. I just don’t care. I simply reciprocate the attitude of that clerk seven years ago. Careless indifference.
Having a great customer experience can make you a fan for life. Make sure that everyone in your organisation knows this and has the power to act on it. They are your brand.
