Too often companies think that branding is a marketing function and conversations begin and end in the marketing department.
The truth is, every employee you have is a piece of your brand, especially those serving in customer-facing roles. While they may have different touchpoints with customers, they are all part of the experience.
Here are 5 reasons why brand alignment can benefit your business:
- Create Consistency in Brand Messaging
How often does your team look at your mission and vision? If employees are only looking at these valuable pieces of your company on their first day of work, you are missing out on a lot of opportunities.
Your vision and mission are key parts of what makes your company what it is. They shape your differentiators and help your team members understand your value.
When your brand is discussed through all customer-facing teams, you ensure that your brand messaging is consistent. This means that regardless of who the customer interacts with, they receive the same information about your brand. This consistency in messaging helps build trust and credibility with your customers, as they know what to expect from your brand.
- Increase Brand Awareness
No matter the economic condition, brand awareness is a key to success. While your marketing department may be creating the brand awareness strategy, how are they engaging the other customer-facing teams to play their role?
Each interaction with a customer is an opportunity to promote your brand and its values. When your brand is consistently discussed and showcased, it becomes more recognizable and memorable to customers. Brand alignment can lead to increased brand loyalty and word-of-mouth advertising.
- Improve Customer Experience
Brand alignment can improve the customer experience because they know what to expect. They understand your value proposition and service level because it’s consistent throughout their experience.
Sometimes companies think they have top notch customer service because they have a proactive customer support team, but if your billing processes are a little clunky, that can create a poor customer experience, too. Your customers are more likely to have a positive experience when they receive consistent service.
- Gain a Competitive Advantage
Consistent branding and messaging can differentiate your business from your competitors. This can lead to increased market share and profitability.
- Increased Sales
With consistency in brand messaging, increasing brand awareness, improving customer experience, and gaining a competitive advantage, you are positioned to also increase your bottom line. When customers are having a positive experience with your whole team, it can funnel into your sales team's quotas.
There are also more opportunities for upselling or cross-selling when there is brand alignment because you have a higher chance that your teams are communicating efficiently. When there is cross-department communication, it becomes easier for your sales team to forecast potential customer needs because they will have exposure to all interactions their customers are having with your company.
Ultimately, opening up the conversation around your brand throughout your company leads to opportunity. While marketing may own the brand conversation, it is not the only department that represents your company. Team members speak with customers during different parts of the customer journey, so they can share valuable insight. By investing in brand alignment, you can build a strong and loyal customer base that will support your business for years to come.
