Devoted to customer service and the principles of exceptional customer services

Guest post by Dan Schawbel, owner of the Personal Branding Blog and publisher of the Personal Branding Magazine

Due to the rise of Personal Branding, service organizations need to revitalize their customer service and sales department. Customer service has a strong effect on the perception of the corporate entity as a whole. Special attention must be paid to the actual servicers that are handling customer calls or sit at the front desk of a store, such as Best Buy. The brands of these employees are crucial in terms of retaining other employees and pleasing customers. The stronger the Personal Brands of these employees are, the more willing customers are to come back and purchase more services from the company. 

In the customer’s eyes, these servicers are the company itself. I say this because they are the main contact point for which a transaction occurs. There are other important details, such as the brand environment of the company and the total customer experience. When a customer remembers dealing with company XYZ, they quickly transition to the customer service representative they dealt with or the salesman that just sold them product XZY. Sales people are also critical to providing an experience for customers and potential customers because they are the path or bridge that the customer must cross in order to get the product they are interested in (B2B mainly). With B2C companies, such as Best Buy or Staples, the employees that are running the registers or helping customers find specific products from their inventories are the cornerstone to repeat buyers. 

It’s important to note that if companies spread the idea of Personal Branding across their organizations, they will reap the following benefits:

• Employee’s who are empowered and content with their work.
• Customers that are willing to either purchase more product or make a return visit
• Better upselling opportunities for salespeople
• Corporate brand will increase its total perceived value (brand equity)
• Employee’s will be more apt to get along with each other, creating a better brand environment

Special attention must be paid to the individual brands within a company, in order for the company to reap the most benefits and have a competitive advantage.