Chief marketing officers and other C-suite executives across all industries recognize that customer experience is crucial as both a business driver and key differentiator. In today’s “constantly connected” world, customers expect a cohesive experience across all touchpoints. When this expectation is not met — when the link between what a company says and what it does is broken — customers lose trust in the business and the services/solutions they deliver.
Savvy business professionals know that developing a clear, compelling and consistent corporate story is important for customer engagement, but where many fall short is “consistently” bringing the story to life throughout the customer experience.
What business professionals forget is that as their company evolves, so does the company’s message. If left “unmanaged,” it will take on a life of its own — becoming less and less clear, compelling and consistent. That’s why smart companies implement programs to ensure the corporate messaging is infused throughout the organization. When the corporate story is woven into the fabric of the company, it can come to life in the following ways:
Employees become storytellers. All too often, executives make the mistake of assuming their employees will intuitively understand the corporate message. Not so. For messaging to truly be effective, it must be infused into the organization through sustained, internal change management programs that ensure employees internalize corporate messaging and are inspired to bring it to life.
Selling conversations convert more customers. Magic happens when strategic messaging is infused into sales tools and selling conversations. When this happens, conversations throughout the buying process become more clear, compelling and consistent. This results in prospects converting to paying customers at a higher rate.
Thought leadership extends and amplifies the corporate story. Marketers know that content is not a “nice-to-have” but rather a must-have. And yet, according to IDG, 86 percent of buyers say B2B content is not useful, relevant or aligned to purchasing needs. Content is the direct link to customers and should always extend and amplify the core elements of your Corporate Messaging Platform.
The customer experience begins and ends with a conversation. Create a consistent and compelling customer experience by infusing your corporate message inside and outside of your organization.
