It was my third day of business travel and I was tired but looking forward to a seminar on motivation. About halfway through the presentation, I realized that the longer I stayed the more demotivated I felt. The speaker was engaging, she was actually quite funny, but her material was dated. My table-mates were a bigger problem. They were unhappy co-workers. Their underlying unpleasantness towards each other and their missing colleagues was tangible. It was disrespectful at best and openly hostile at other times. Made me glad I didn’t work with them and wonder if their boss understood the brand they created.
I left the session after an hour and ended up in a conflict resolution lecture. I’ve rarely laughed so hard. It was clever, insightful and I can say without a doubt, conflict has never felt so good. The rest of my day unfolded in a pleasant fashion, but as I was reflecting on the morning’s adventures I couldn’t help wondering about how attitudes, our own, those of service providers and even other customers influence and affect how we perceive brands.
While I was waiting for the conflict resolution lecture to start the woman ahead of me in line gave me a big smile, she turned out to be the lecturer. Her smile was an accurate indicator of the attitude she conveyed throughout her lecture. It reminded me of a study I read on the effects of greetings on shoppers, no not the typical Wal-Mart greeting, but a real greeting, like, “Hi, is it still raining out?” for mall shoppers. The study indicated that shoppers are more likely to report a positive experience if they are greeted and told goodbye. So although they may have a neutral journey through a store, the emotion they experience on coming and going will dictate their impressions.
Of course, the customer’s attitude before they enter a store or a website will also influence their experience. Had I been in a cranky mood when I started the first lecture, I doubt I would have lasted 15 minutes. I also wondered about the experience of customers going into the store of my original tablemates. I couldn’t help but think that their office dynamics would make for an unpleasant environment. Their dislike of each other would dominate the atmosphere, not exactly conducive to a positive retail experience.
So many elements are at play when a brand is being experienced that we constantly have to ask ourselves, what am I’m doing contribute to my brand? Even when we are being vigilant we can get into trouble. On my way home I was standing at airport security waiting to be scanned when one of the security personnel walked up to her colleague and reprimanded him for complaining about something in front of passengers. I wonder what she thought her reprimand in front of me was doing for customer relations? Marketing attitude is something we have to be thinking about all the time. Marketing the wrong attitude can have such a lasting impression, that no matter how good the product, people will be reluctant to engage. The same can be said about marketing the right attitude; it can carry you through even the most unforgiving lapses.
Tips on Managing Brand
- Your attitude is your brand, make sure that you are conveying the right messages.
- Employees are your brand ambassadors. Their attitudes, likes and dislikes will play into your brand and how your services or products are perceived. Make sure you are properly aligned.
- You cannot control your customer’s attitudes, but you can ensure that you are not contributing to a negative experience. Manage the atmosphere you are responsible for and the rest will follow.
Have you had an unpleasant experience work out because the attitude was right or perhaps the reverse is true? Have you had any great experiences that came as a result of great attitude?
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Debra — there’s the old saying, “you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” That is so true. If you show a poor attitude, that’s what people will remember. A lot of Americans complain about the French being unfriendly. But how many of them show up with “attitude” because they expect the worst of their hosts? I’ve been to France several times and I always smiled in hotels, stores and restaurants. I have always found the French to be very hospitable when you show them you care.
It’s unfortunate that so many staff do not see themselves as ambassadors for their companies/employers. Too many are in roles they really don’t like, so that negativity transfers thru to every interaction they have. It makes me think back to the days I was employed with a large corp and surrounded by fellow employees who hated their jobs. their negativity transferred into every action they made and interaction they had.
Love your example of how you felt demotivated when listening to a presentation on motivation. That as well as how the woman who was going to hold a seminar on conflict resolution smiled at you speak volumes. Had to get an iPhone and the salesman selling it to me smiled and was so helpful I made up my mind on the spot. Would I have a new iPhone today if his attitude had been negative and unhelpful? Not sure..
Attitude matters. People are more likely to pay attention to your body language than the words you speak. We exhibit various body languages without even knowing and others will pick this up. In times of crisis and chaos it is difficult to maintain composure but when in positions of leadership and responsibility others look to us as the example.
Presenters–especially those doing it for a living–really need to think about what they are projecting and sharing to the audience.
So true, our silent messages are far more powerful than our verbal ones.
I think we’ve all had some experience like that. Funny how things turn out though, and we end up taking a route we wouldn’t have normally.
Your experience reminds me of a session I attended at my first writing conference two years ago. I wanted to take four sessions given by the same person, but 15-minutes into her first session, I knew I would not bode well under her style of communicating. At a loss for what to do for my other sessions, I picked a mystery panel. It was awesome because the writers were lively and really interested in their topic.
Attitude is crucial when it comes to how we perceive a company, brand, store or a person for that matter. Who wants to do business with a company with nasty staff? Listening to or reading information that’s yesterday’s news is so tedious. Can’t help wondering why lecturers and writers don’t understand that they have missed the boat, move on and focus on something new that will captivate their audiences?
Boy howdy, have I ever! I think the worst is being involved with team, who hasn’t any idea about the meaning of collaboration.Withholding information…is knowledge really power?… to the detriment of the team as a whole. So whatever product the team is responsible for delivering, is doomed to fail but the most important thing they can’t deliver is that positive attitude needed to get a company wide buy in. As to a greeting…remember the TV show Cheers? Where everybody knows your name? Now that’s a positive greeting:)