Your Firm Has a Story to Tell. It's Your Job to Sell It!   by John Males

A business without a face will only serve to immerse your firm further in the deep sea of competition! We live in an experience economy. Firms are charged with creating an entirely memorable experience that customers wish to return to again and again. Your passion and purpose for being must be told to your customers and the world.

Humans are emotionally driven and directed beings and will pay more and purchase more from those firms and individuals that hold both: mental and emotional real estate in the minds and heart of their customers.

Research suggests that those brands that engage people emotionally and that differentiate themselves command prices 20% to 200% higher than competitors' and sell in far higher volume. Want to be as sticky to your customer as Nordstrom's, Starbuck's or Target? The world's most successful brands evoke an emotional response from the customer and have a great story to tell.

Firms spend the majority of marketing dollars to create and then offer elaborate brand promises. These same firms don't pay enough attention to delivering training that ensures these promises are translated into reality for the employees and ultimately for the customer.

A timely research project at Baylor University is investigating how employee based branding effects brand equity. In a series of studies, Chris Pullig, Assistant Professor of Marketing, found that when employees find the brand they represent more attractive by fully understanding the firm's story, they are ever more committed to deliver the brand's promise. This commitment is positively related to job performance and ultimate customer satisfaction. This means that brand messages aimed at current and prospective employees may be equally important as the ones aimed at consumers in creating marketplace success.

In summary, your firm's unique story communicates your passion and engages your customers emotionally when told in a creative, endearing and thought provoking way. That story and its appeal to the customer can make you all the more attractive as they begin to develop a personal affinity with your firm. Your brand's internal and external image cohesiveness is also a direct reflection of your ability to get your entire team to operate from the same playbook.

The shared passion, purpose, vision, and core values that your team members hold will help them to communicate the brands story to current and prospective customers. It is the responsibility of your management team to translate the firm's unique story into something exciting for them that will ultimately impact your customers.