CUSTOMER THINK: BRANDING: HOW REMARKABLE CUSTOMER SERVICE CAN TURN TRUST INTO DEVOTION
Chip Bell contributed a valuable article about customer relationships to Customer Think. Chip operates under the belief that “Four principles characterize the organizations that elevate “trust in a brand” to “love for a brand”—inclusion, generosity, honesty, and faith.” Read how some of today’s most successful companies are practicing these four principles.
Customer Think Excerpt:
The branding of cattle began in this country because cattle shared open grazing range throughout the West. Barbed wire fence would later alter the practice. When it came time to drive cows to market, the hot tattoo was a convenient way to identify a particular cow.
The golden arches today help us identify a particular fast-food restaurant; an apple with one bite removed identifies a particular computer company. Brands are powerful tools for customer trust. They spell “consistency” and “reliability.”
The word “brand” is typically associated with image—logo, signage, impression, promotion, etc. Companies protect brands with the same fervor they guard patents, trademarks, and company secrets. Let a new hamburger enterprise opt for silver arches as its emblem and even a clown named Ronald will have something to say about it. Try mass marketing your homemade lemonade that your creative daughter named Pepsi and see if you don’t get an unhappy lawyer knocking on your door.
But, there is another side of the meaning of brand. Branding in the Wild West was also a means to determine ownership. The “Circle J” brand was not just the moniker of the cattle associated with the ranch along the East side of the Brazos River. It also told everyone that the cows were the property of that particular ranch.
There is a very big difference between simply recognizing a McDonald’s and adoring it. What steps change “the Starbucks at the corner of First and Main” into “my Starbucks?” And, how can outstanding customer service be an effective tool for building the kind of trust in a brand that provokes customer devotion, not just confidence? Four principles characterize the organizations that elevate “trust in a brand” to “love for a brand”—inclusion, generosity, honesty, and faith.