Brand promises, delivered
Social media is beginning to make its impact on business, yet businesses are a long way from being social. Digital and social influences have forever changed the expectations of both customers and employees. It has affected the speed at which customers expect to be serviced. Social has redefined what “easy-to-do-business-with” really means and everyone expects a company to know at least a little bit “about me” when talking with them.
This is a stark contrast to how businesses have been built in the past with a clear hierarchy of controls, a corporate curtain over any and all communications and all products and services being built and delivered with a one-size-fits-all approach. Companies have spent decades telling customers and employees what their brand is supposed to mean.
Social now requires companies to deliver on that promise. This new age requires that companies deal with customers on their terms including when, where and how they want, and it requires that the interaction be relevant to the situation and their needs at the time.
Many brands have started to “be -social” by setting up a listening post and making content extensible on social networks. Communications are still just managed by a few people in the public relations or marketing departments and customers still get only what companies serve out.
High-performing businesses of the future will transform every part of the enterprise and enable employees to be more accessible, messages to be more relevant so that every interaction will make up the new customer experience. Ultimately, high-performing companies of the future will be required to deliver on the promise of their brands.