Do Your Clients Know Who You Are?

As far as is possible, customers want sales processes that save them time and hassle - one click online purchases that they can trust to arrive on time and be exactly what they wanted.  I like to call this the Amazon legacy. Paradoxically as more sales paths become automated and faceless, the need for a more personal connection with the personality of the brand (as embodied by its representatives) has grown. Most businesses have some form of social media presence through which they offer this ‘personal' engagement and relationship with their clients.  And in our experience more customers are in turn using social media, especially twitter to connect directly with team members - to arrange a meeting, or request info or a call back.

A couple of years back we decided to put pictures and mini-bios of the Creative Solutions team on our website, on our quotes and standard emails we sent out so that people phoning up for quote requests and orders could put a face and personality to the voice they were dealing with. It made a huge difference to the way our clients started responding to us. Greater connections were made and greater interest in the company was generated. It also created an opportunity for us to build mutual trust and understanding.

I have noticed this trend with other businesses too - the way ‘About Us' pages on websites are written have changed in the last couple of years. Old school corporate declarations of ‘what a great company we are' have been replaced with more inclusive statements.  Even smaller brands are now actively thinking of their client base as a community in which they must play a part, if they are to be included in its purchasing decisions. One of the best team introductions I have seen is the brilliant slider on Trend Hunter.

When it comes to taking your brand on the road - to a trade show or exhibition, and your clients get to meet your team face-to-face, it is an opportunity to reinforce and deepen these connections. There are really simple things that can help with this.

1.       If you are planning giveaways or merchandising - assign different items to different team members (that are in keeping with their personality or ‘story' within the team.

2.       Consider personalised branded t-shirts for individual team members rather than everyone wearing exactly the same thing.

3.       Take turns with team members taking a ‘headliner' role within your stand.

4.       Use your team members ids in pre-show gamification strategies on facebook and twitter