Personal Brands have a direct effect on corporate image
September 27, 2007 at 11:12 am | In Personal Branding, Reputation Management | 9 CommentsThe people you deal with through companies can either break or make your perception of the company as a whole. If you are unhappy with a specific service or product that a person is either selling you or supporting you with, then you blame the company. We see this mostly in retail stores, such as Best Buy, where you interact directly with employees at either the cash register or near specific products. These individuals have knowledge of a particular product and can help you understand features more than other employees on the store that are positioned differently. When you are greeted by one of these individuals, they are supposed to convey a sense of trust in their brand and that of the product they are explaining. Not only this, but they are supposed to help the customer by providing an exceptional experience from knowledge sharing till purchase. This also works similar with the sales people, as they are customer facing and can claim or lose the sale based on character, attitude, experience, technical competencies and the brand of their business.
Best Buy needs to coach their employees on customer satisfaction
It seems each time that I walk into a Best Buy store, I have a most unpleasant experience. Before I visit a store, I do research on the product I’m interested in, so when I walk in, I can make a quick purchase without hesitation. The second I’m about to purchase the product, the person at the register asks me about the product warranty, which tends to be a real waste of money. I always reject and then get harassed by the employee with phrases like “what is wrong with you” and “but….you need this” and of course facial expressions that could turn any customer away. From their angle, they are looking to make some sort of commission on this “suckers bet.” From mine, I just want the product, without paying extra fees. This clash, hurts both the customer and employee experience, as I think less of the overall Best Buy brand because of my experience with that individual. Every employee is an ambassador of the Best Buy brand, so if their brand is perceived as poor, the companies will have the same effect. After this type of encounter, the Best Buy employee becomes less focused, more frustrated and will have lower self-esteem for the next customer.
What can be learned
With enough customer complaints and surveys showing poor results, I think Best Buy should focus on giving employees other incentives, rather than push for these insignificant warranty’s. They also should examine who they hire, as the attitudes of their employees are negative and give off a bad brand environment. It should be treated as an opportunity for improvement.
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I hate the warranty push too, as well as the general disregard most Best Buy employees show towards women buyers. I also go into Best Buy with knowledge about the products I want to buy, and then face a struggle even getting the attention of employees. It’s maddening.
On thing though, if you’re one of those people who use their electronics in many places, the warranty is worth it. Four years ago, I purchased a warranty for a laptop–and I’m currently on my 2nd warranty-funded replacement. Unusual, yes, but worth it for me.
Comment by Katie — September 27, 2007 #
I am currently in possession of a warranty pushed on my by the checkout girl at BestBuy for my $99 iHome clock radio. Entirely, stupidly unnecessary, but I got pressured into it!
Reminds me of when I worked at Lady Foot Locker in high school and was trained to try and force every customer buying running shoes to also buy three pairs of special socks and some gel inserts as well. I always felt so shady…like, if the customer wants or needs socks, they’ll say so, right?
Great post!
Comment by Sarah Wurrey — September 27, 2007 #
[...] Factors: What You Say Can Affect Your Customers! September 27th, 2007 As I read in Dan Schawbel’s blog about branding, I was reminded that what you say, either verbally or non-verbally, can really [...]
Pingback by The Communications Factors: What You Say Can Affect Your Customers! « COMMUNICATIONS FACTORS — September 27, 2007 #
Dan, this post does a great job of showing how important customer service is to branding. Each customer interaction leaves a brand impression. In your case, it has not been good for Best Buy!
Employee attitudes can indeed make it or break it. Nice post!
Comment by Becky Carroll — September 27, 2007 #
A lot can be learned from mistakes such as the one I blogged about above. The idea here is to view them as opportunities for improvement.
Remember without customers there cannot be corporate brands, thus there cannot be personal brands working there!
Comment by shwibbs — September 27, 2007 #
I think they do this because the markup on the big ticket items are so low, but on the accessories they are high. Most electronics come with a manufacturer’s warranty. What they sell at places like BB are extended warranty, which go into effect after the manufacturer’s warranty.
I think the problem with most retail organizations is that do not see enough value in having personable people on their front lines. The ones that are could be making more money doing something else. Retailers are weighing the damage caused by bad customer service against the benefits of selling high margin accessories. Since it is a sales culture without a long term sales strategy (and the employees are probably not going to be there long term), pushing accessories and extended warranties wins. You think BB with their progressive Results Oriented Work Environment for their corporate employees, they might be more progressive about hiring the right salespeople in the stores.
Comment by Nick — September 28, 2007 #
[...] Personal Brands have a direct effect on corporate image [...]
Pingback by Whisper | Carnival of Trust - October 2007 — October 1, 2007 #
Dan Schawbel has a phenomenal blog on the subject of personal branding, and you can visit it yourself by clicking the link.
-Link to New York October Issue Newsletter
Comment by onthemarkwriting — October 3, 2007 #
How damn annoying is it when people do that. I ran into the same problem with my recent car purchase. I researched used cars and I knew I wanted to have a Dodge Intrepid. When I walked into the dealership, I told him exactly the car that I wanted, which was standing close to the entrance in the inventory. The guy had to walk me across the parking lot, asking me whether I wanted this Accord for 3 grand more, or this Civic. No. I researched it. I want it.
When I took it out for a test drive it was the same thing. I was literally going to say “Stop badgering me because I know exactly what I want, and nothing you say will change my mind.” I ended up not buying the car, because after 1.5 hours of that experience, and after sitting down to sign the papers, he had discovered that the car was sold 2 days ago. You should guess what I told the customer service reps who would call me to ask about my car purchasing experience….
Every person is an ambassador for the corporation they work with, for the clubs/organizations they represent, and for their family. This could not be more true!
Best buy definitely has something to work for. Maybe if they got their customer service to the level of Singapore Airlines (one of my favorite brands), they would understand that pleasurable experiences convert not only into repeat sales ($$$) but positive word of mouth (even more $$$).
Comment by Piotr J — October 11, 2007 #