Grumpy. Unhelpful. Rude. That pretty much sums up most of the people who deliver my online grocery shop from Tesco every week. There have been exceptions, of course, but on the whole impressions have not been positive.
I can appreciate that it’s not the most exciting or best paid job in the world. But I can’t help thinking that there’s a hole in Tesco’s legendary razor sharp marketing here (their database apparently has a million variations of personalised letters to customers). Hand on heart though, can any of us as marketers say that our organisations are immune from this?
Throughout my career I’ve worked in the private, public and charity sectors and I’ve come across many organisations that fail to invest in the people who have the most contact with their stakeholders. It’s a false economy. You can spend billions on your brand, but a surly receptionist or grumpy shop manager can destroy the good impression that you’ve worked your socks off to create. Smart organisations take pre-emptive steps to deal with this; I’ve heard that Macmillan apparently train all staff, including volunteers, in their brand, which must help them understand their role as brand ambassadors. And it’s money well spent because not only does it uphold and strengthen your brand but it also creates positive word of mouth marketing. I often find myself talking about the British Heart Foundation as everyone I’ve met who works there is so professional and helpful.
In an era of cuts and squeezed resources, organisations (including charities) need to leverage their assets, including people, as I’ve blogged about previously. Training everyone who works for your organisation in your brand and customer service is one area where we can’t afford to cut back. Competition is getting even fiercer, and I’ve heard that some funders now prefer to support charities who focus their services around their beneficiaries. If we don’t get this right, then our stakeholders will simply go elsewhere.
Next week, I’m shopping with Sainsbury’s.