Who would you say is the best trumpet blower for your brand?
Was it your satisfied customers that came to mind? Obvious choice. Traditionally customers have been the number one brand fans that if treated right would sell your products or service for you. Their gospel praise for your brand can be effective however, imagine an even more powerful advocate, that for so long has gone under the radar and their potential to promote barely touched. Who are these champions? It’s your employees!
Have you forgotten about them? They’re surrounded by the brand, execute the brand, formulate the brand, so imagine their promoting power when they are so passionate about the brand that all they want to do is shout it from the rooftops.
It’s great for employees to recommend the company as an employer of choice. But here’s our point, we want more. We want employees out there waving the flag, banging the drum, promoting the brand, its products and service as the best of the best. The recommendation of an employee will deliver a lot more punch than any customer because they see it all. They see behind the curtain, they see the cracks and flaws, the blood, sweat and tears that go into the business. Every aspect that makes up the brand, they are either surrounded by or involved in creating. So, if they see it all and still want to spread the good word, well doesn’t that say a lot about how amazing your brand is.
Enlist your employees as fullly-fledged promoters of your brand. Sit back and watch the positive results flow.
Easy-Peasey? Well a little work is first required. Not to worry there is a handy metric that will start you on the right path.
That helpful tool is the eNPS. It stands for Employee Net Promoter Score. The traditional NPS is a theory used to measure customer experience. Here we are applying it to our employees rather than customers. It is a principle not as commonly used but should be. Such an easy way to understand an employee’s perception of the brand, and their attitude towards it that it’s a mistake not to apply it in your workplace.
Begin by asking your employees the following question:
“How likely are you to recommend your employer’s brand to a friend?”
Employees answer the question above on a scale of 1-10 (1 being not at all likely and 10 being extremely likely). They are grouped into three categories:
- Promoters (9 or 10)
- Passives (7 or 8)
- Detractors (6 or below)
The eNPS is then calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. Notwithstanding, a high positive score is good to hear, but the real value in using this tool lies in the responses of your employees.
First, let’s delve into the groups a bit further. 9s and 10s are the golden numbers you want to hear. They’re your promoters and they will be the most proactive in promoting the brand to friends, family, past colleagues or customers. They have genuine enthusiasm and love for the brand so when they’re selling products or providing a service, they are much more persuasive in their sales techniques. Be that as it may, the idea of having promoters goes beyond the sales experience. It is about having genuine endorsers. They are such fanatics of the brand that even when they’re not working, they can’t help themselves but tell everyone they know, including potential customers, how great the brand is.
In an ideal world all your employees would be promoters and they would create a positive cycle of business for the brand. When employees are motivated, they are productive and provide a superior service, resulting in happy customers and creating promoters out of their customers who in turn bring in more business.
Seems simple when everyone’s on the same team but detractors can interfere with this positive cycle. It must be your mission to covert them from the dark side because they can pose a real threat to a brand’s reputation and customer experiences. They hold strong negative views towards their company and in some cases, they go as far as to share these views publicly which is never good for a brand’s growth. Now not all detractors will go public with their opinions yet not even shaming the brand to their friends means they’re not talking about it at all and their silence says a thousand words. Passives are in a similar position. As they sit on the fence, neither enthused nor displeased, you’ll find they have no spark in their voice when, by off chance, you do hear them speaking of the brand. A paycheck won’t keep them coming back forever. They’ll soon realise they can have the best of both worlds: a good brand to work for and a good paycheck to match. If you don’t work on creating a brand worth staying for, they will find somewhere else to work.
So how do you become that company for your employees, the one they want to promote? Go beyond the question. You need to understand the reasoning behind the score. That is where the most valuable insight lies. Sit down with your promoters and ask them why they gave the brand such a high score. Their responses will determine the behavior and actions within the organisation that should be replicated and shared. Then listen to your detractors because they will highlight the aspects of the company that need to be improved or changed completely. Use the feedback to create a working environment that all employees want to be in, want to stay in and are proud to share. In doing so you’ll not only see happier employees but more customers rolling through the door as a result (metaphorically of course).
Where to start? Just ask the question. If you would rather someone else facilitate the process, give us a call. Sometimes a skilled, independent and objective third party is the best way to discover the impact your employees are having on the brand. We’ll work out what’s going wrong and develop a strategy that will build your business and brand.