The Best New Marketing Plan For 2013

January 15, 2013 — Leave a comment
Your Business As An Engine

Photo Courtesty of Ahisgett via Flickr

Lost any customers lately?  Sales drooping?  Maybe it’s time to start a new marketing plan.  I mean it is the new year, right?  There is one key marketing area that your company is already paying for, so why not examine it for maximum efficacy.  I’m talking about your company’s culture and how it affects your customers experience.

Corporate culture and marketing seem totally unrelated.  You could say they are like oil and water.  That is if you think of the water cooling the engine and the oil keeping that same engine lubricated.  Both share the same goal though, keeping the engine running smoothly.

Think about your best employee.  The one you would take with you to the White House, if your company was invited.  I’m sure you are proud and happy and impressed with that image.  Now, take your worst and put him in the same position.  Yikes is right!

The truth is that each and every employee in a company can quickly transfer their attitude into your customer’s experience.  Have employees that are less than engaged with your company mission?  Customers can sense this; probably faster than you can.

Worse yet, what happens when those dis-engaged team members aren’t at work?  Do they have anything good to say about you and your company around their Mom’s & Dad’s, husbands, or children?  Do you care?

Want to improve your team?
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Well, you should!  These people know other people who talk to even more people.  Whether or not that person has a sense of pride in their work can scream through the public faster than 4G!  And that equals marketing (good, bad, or ugly).

The icing on the cake here is that not only do these under-engaged team members do damage to your returning customer base, they also help to disengage the rest of your well meaning team.  The next thing you know, your big-block V8 engine is running like a four cylinder with a blown head gasket (and that’s bad).

So, this year I challenge you to spend some time on your culture because it is the best marketing plan you have ever invested in!

Question:  Can you think of any way that company culture does NOT affect the customer’s experience?