Companies that build trust with their customer base and within the work culture do so by focusing on branding from the inside out. You can have the best marketing message and flashiest Web site in the world, but if you can't back it up with employees who deliver consistently good customer experiences you're only "Branding for the Neighborhood."

An approach of branding for the neighborhood may feel good as you develop new logos and taglines, create a new brochure, update your Web site, and launch an ad campaign. But it's superficial. You paint the house, plant flowers, and look great from a distance. But this only works if you don't want anyone to come inside. The good feeling won't last when the financials are due, stress is high, and your top employees decide to leave. A profitable and sustainable brand must be built from the inside out through the right people, operational processes, and programs that are in alignment with organizational goals and objectives.

Don't let your company's branding efforts be focused solely in the marketing department. Rather, focus on the operational processes and people systems necessary to deliver on the promises you want to make. Then make the promises your employees can and will deliver to drive customer loyalty and sales.

You may have seen this piece I wrote over 2 1/2 years ago, but I thought it begged rehashing because it could not be more applicable than right here, right now in the world we live. Looking back, I am not even sure I could say I would really see the day when GM would declare bankruptcy.

Winter 2007 -----

In 2005, General Motors decided to run what I believe is the most stupid, most brand-diminishing promotion in the history of our world. With one swoop of stupidity, GM almost certainly put a dent in its corporate brand and all of its automobile brands. I would have loved to have been in the boardroom the day someone at GM came up with the idea to give everyone “The Employee Discount.” Mark my words, the employee discount promotion will go on record as the stupidest ever.

Do you know anyone who works for GM? If you do, then you know how special the employee discount is for them. I used to live next door to a guy who worked for GM. His discount was quite a perk for him, his friends, and his family. He was able to buy a few cars each year and receive amazing deals on the price. He offered me the opportunity the same year he purchased a few cars on behalf of other family and friends. So, in a day and age when employee perks were rare and finding ways to delight your employees was more difficult than ever, GM had a golden ticket with the employee discount. If you worked for the company, you got to purchase a car at a price far below what the average John or Jane Doe paid.

At least, that was the benefit to employees before the summer of 2005. GM must have been in a situation in which its dealers were in sudden need of moving cars. I can just imagine the scene where the genius marketing executive said, “I know, let’s give everyone the employee discount. The price will be so low that those cars will jump out of the lots.” This decision was probably made with a complete disregard to the short- and long-term impact on employees of the company.

If GM was building a superior car and positioning its brand in powerful ways, it might not have even been in the situation. But it was in the situation and giving away the employee discount must have seemed like the best way out. I think it will turn out to be the worst mistake ever and will take decades to recover from. If it ever recovers at all!

Here’s why:

First, GM may have alienated its entire employee base, diminishing the value of one of the best perks some employees are offered. By giving the employee discount to everyone, GM was saying, “Hey employees, you’re not so special anymore. Anyone can have your special perk.” At the very least, GM should have considered providing the 36,000 employees (who just lost their 401k match) the opportunity to deliver the employee discount through a more aggressive program. Maybe they could have offered them the same incredible incentive to pass on to anyone they want. If I worked for GM, I could have walked up to a stranger on the street and given them a coupon for $5,000 off a GM car. Then, for each coupon used, GM could have repurposed the enormous ad budget and paid a bonus to the employees. Or, at the very least, it could have lessened the decrease in the 401k. This would have sparked greater employee pride, put more money in their pockets, and still led to increased car sales.

Second, GM probably alienated all of its most loyal customers. Why? Because if you are the owner of a GM car that you purchased three years ago for $30,000 and expected to trade in for $17,000, think again. Now GM might be selling that same model car brand new for $24,000, in all likelihood greatly diminishing the value of your trade-in. The negative impact on resale compared to the foreign competition will be felt for years to come.

Third, I believe GM dramatically lowered the perceived value of its autos when it participated in a large discounting activity such as the employee discount. It diminished brand value across the board for new customers, old customers, and the most important GM customer: the employees.

So GM, with one promotion, alienated its employee base and its existing customer base on top of diminishing its total brand value.

Want more proof that GM is headed down the wrong road? In comparing November sales from 2004 and 2005, GM sales were down 11.4 percent while Toyota was up 5.6 percent — a 17 percent differential in one month. Is this an aberration or a sign of things to come? If I were a betting man, I would not bet one dime on GM.

Why didn’t Toyota follow suit? Because Toyota is building superior cars that are perceived to be more valuable in the minds of American consumers. That is why Toyota will soon sit atop
the auto world with record sales in the years ahead while GM will be finding ways to perform disaster relief from its own stupid promotion.

GM, a perfect example of how advertising and marketing can kill your brand!

Susan Scott recently wrote in her Fierce Conversations blog, "Human connectivity, as opposed to strategy and tactics, is the next frontier for exponential growth and the only sustainable competitive edge."

One of the many consequences/downfalls of the current economic situation is an influx of tension in the workplace. More and more people are feeling the pressure that cost-cutting and downsizing is putting on jobs. Employees are feeling more uncertain of job stability, which leads to anxiety and strain on relationships with coworkers.

Rather than isolating employees and fueling gossip, leaders and managers should seek to capitalize on tense situations and build/strengthen relationships through open, honest, and frequent communications. Empower your employees to tackle projects as a team. Doing so will strengthen employee relationships, promote collaboration, and diminish competitive strife. Of course, some competition is healthy to a strong, forward-thinking company so don't do away with competition altogether.

Recognizing the good is just as important as effectively dealing with the bad. Whereas you're company may not be able to offer across-the-board bonuses or other financial rewards, employees still crave positive reinforcement and the knowledge that their efforts do not go unnoticed. Make note of successes when they happen and celebrate often. Hold a "Celebrating Success" lunch hour dedicated to appreciating individual and team efforts that have had a positive impact on the business.

When thinking about the power of positivity, I'm reminded of something a friend of mine once told me. He said, "Always be positive because 90 percent of the people (including coworkers) you meet and interact with don’t care about your problems, and 10 percent are glad you have them."

Top five things I hate about doing business with companies that don't focus on behavior-based branding:

1. Encountering a robot: the employee with a blank face, no emotion. I want to say, "I'm human, I think you are. Let's act like it... smile and say hello!"

2. Suffering from "invisible customer" syndrome. While I'm sure that whomever you're talking to on the phone is important, I just walked into the store and I'm the only customer around so please acknowledge my existence and validate that I'm just dreaming your service couldn't be this bad.

3. Getting the "I could help you, but what's in it for me?" reaction. Which employee do you think is more likely to go above and beyond to help out a customer... the employee who receives instruction on best practices and behaviors for interacting with customers and when his actions are noticed by a manager, receives a pat on the back or some other form of recognition (whether incentive-based or not) or the employee who is left on his own to decide how to respond to customers and only hears from his manager when he screws up? Employees who do not feel the benefit of good customer service are less likely to make an effort when a situation arises. Employees who understand and feel the benefit (through positive reinforcement, rewards systems, etc.) are more likely to go out of their way to help customers, which ultimately leads to a better experience and greater customer loyalty.

4. The millions of missed opportunities. This one ties into number three above. I cannot tell you how many times a frontline worker or even a manager misses an opportunity to earn a customer for life. Every time a manager says, "there's nothing I can do for you," it lessens the chance that the customer will come back again. Rather than conceding to negativity, frontline workers and managers should be equipped with positive responses, such as "I hope there is some way we can help you out today, Ms. Smith. If we don't have product A, perhaps you would like product B?" Anything is better than a "no" or a negative reaction.

5. The "Jekyll and Hyde" Experience. Or the "never know what you're going to get" store. One day employees are helpful, eager to assist and drive a pleasant experience. The next they are distant, sometimes impossible to find, or even outright rude. The inconsistency in experience is aggravating and unsettling. Especially in times like these, the experience makes all the difference when customers decide if they want to shop at your store or the megamart down the street. Most people would rather shop somewhere where they know what to expect (whether it's a positive or negative experience) over an ever-changing experience. Consistency is king!

Companies that set expectations for basic frontline customer service behaviors, communicate about them, and hold their employees accountable for living the desired behaviors every day and in every interaction will have a strong, more productive employee base as well as a more satisfied, loyal set of customers who keep coming back and are eager to refer the company to their friends and family.

I had the chance to participate in a nice debate about employee engagement last week on Businessweek.com - check it out http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2009/05/employee_engage.html - thanks to Paul Hebert for the lively debate.

I think you'll find Paul and I actually agree more than we disagree about employee engagement. What's interesting about the comments on the debate is the assumption made that employee engagement is about special programs, employee benefits, game rooms, recognition programs, team building exercises, etc. Let me set the record straight - when I am talking about employee engagement, I am not actually thinking about any programs, perks, or benefits - these are not what employee engagement is about.

Employee engagement is a state I believe companies are constantly striving to get to. Simply put, it is the result of employees understanding the company's strategy , how to bring it to life behaviorally in their day-to-day job, being held accountable for helping achieve the company goals/objectives and therefore willing to give that extra bit of discretionary effort everyday.

Why care? Because engaged employees will consistently deliver world-class employee and customer experiences that will dramatically increase the value of your business and your ability to differentiate yourself in the marketplace. Just ask Ritz-Carlton, Southwest Airlines, Wegmans Food Markets, and Disney whether employee engagement matters!

I often get falsely accused of being "anti-marketing" when in reality I value marketing as much as the top marketers and leaders in the world, I just see marketing as a piece to a larger puzzle rather than the "'end all" solution. In my travels I come across too many leaders focused so much on positioning and messaging and not focused enough on what it truly takes to deliver a differentiated experience to employees and customers. In my opinion, at least 90% of the time your employees and customers are going to judge your company and its products and services by the experience they have with it and 10% or less by what you tell and market to them. A brand is not built through marketing messages, it is built though people and process held together by employee day-to-day behaviors.

Let me share with you a quick story about the power of brand-behavior.

Recently I was in Florida visiting a well-known restaurant chain that serves bagels. My family had ordered dinner, but I also wanted to take six bagels home. I went to the takeout line to place the order. While the sales clerk was packing the bagels, I noticed she was putting them into a large, expensive box suited for 12 to 24 bagels.

I said to her: “Please don’t waste that costly box on my bagels—a smaller bag will do.” Her response was appalling: “It’s OK, I’m not paying for it.”

Ouch! My immediate thought: “Well, I’m paying for it!”

Now, I’m fairly certain this attitude and behavior wasn’t taught during the company’s training and orientation session. But it clarifies the root cause of this imbalance between what the brand stands for and reality. Quite simply: Employees don’t see themselves as a vital part of the company brand.

Simply put, if you are not managing behaviors employees do and experiences employees and customers have, then you are not managing your company brand.  It doesn't matter what the restaurant's marketing said, the employee's behavior undercut all of it!

A brand is the sum of all experiences a company’s people have with an audience. Brand Integrity is the ultimate business and management strategy. It is the one strategy that works in companies of all sizes and within all industries to strengthen culture and business results. Brand Integrity aligns who a company is (core values, mission/vision, and strategic benefits) with where it is going (goals and strategic plans) and how employees will deliver the behaviors and experiences to achieve results.

In addition to being a management strategy, Brand Integrity is a destination. The destination is the point at which a company achieves its desired brand image while reaching its business goals. Said another way, it’s when employees, customers, partners, and the market understand, believe, and experience that the company is who it says it is.
To achieve Brand Integrity, leaders need a strategy and employees need to know the strategy and how they can best deliver it through their day-to-day work activities.