Externally, the stories told about you pretty much sum up your brand.
I do not care how many millions you spend on advertising or how many followers you have on Facebook or Twitter.
I do not care what your annual report says.
I do not care what your brochure says.
I do not care what your marketing department statistics say.
What I believe is a story told by someone I trust and respect.
It does not matter how much money, time and effort was spent on brand identity, value propositions and marketing slogans.
The cumulative effect of the stories that are told make up a company’s brand identity.
What I believe about a company are the stories I hear about it. I never believe statistics from a company.
Four out of five dentists may recommend it, but if someone tells me the toothpaste tastes like cement, I’m pretty much not going to buy it.
Just as important as the stories told about you externally are the stories that are told about you and your company internally.
I would argue, in fact I will bet anyone who is reading this $10,000 if you win and a donut if I win.
Here is the bet; I bet that I can tell the stories that your customers will say about you by only talking with your employees.
The cumulative effect of the stories your employees tell will give a crystal clear view of your culture.
What I can learn about your culture will give me a crystal clear view on how your customers will be treated and thus, the stories they will tell about you.
If anyone wants to save a donut, go talk to your own employees and figure out how that impacts your culture and how that impacts your customers.
Since I do not want to gain any weight by eating all of your donuts, I recommend you check out the quick note below:
Republished with author’s permission from original post.
