When you think about your marketing plan, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it the upcoming campaigns? Sales drives? The platforms you are using? The content you are developing? Well, I’m a big believer in the details, and there is a detail that is integral to your marketing plan that you want to put foremost on your list: Your team. Let’s talk about 3 ways your team is part of your marketing plan.
They Embody Your Brand
What is your brand? What does your business stand for? What values system do you have? How does your business sound when it communicates?
It’s not just important for the business owner or the business marketer to know this. Your brand should be what your team feels every day. And, frankly, if your brand is something that your team doesn’t feel every day, then it’s not really your brand.
If your brand is something that your team doesn’t feel every day, then it’s not really your brand. #team #business #smallbusiness #smallbiz #smb #companyculture Share on XThe culture you create among your team has to be in alignment with the culture you want your business to represent. It connects to how you talk about your team, how they talk about you, and how you all talk to each other.
Did you ever have an experience of walking into another business – perhaps a retail shop, a restaurant, or another business where you could see the interaction of colleagues – and immediately being able to tell what it was like to work there? Maybe you could tell it was a great place to work. Or maybe you could tell that there was unrest just by sensing the vibe.
The culture of the team reads to the audience, whether you want it to or not!
The culture of the team reads to the audience. #team #companyculture #business #smallbusiness #smallbiz #smb Share on XThey Face Your Customers and Stakeholders
Some of your team may be in charge of internal operations, but others will be externally facing. They may deal directly with your customers, your prospects, your partners, your sponsors, your volunteers, or other stakeholders at some point in their daily activities.
The members of your team who deal directly with the larger community around your business are representing you. They should reflect what you stand for. (Read more about that here!)
They need the tools to reflect you properly and to drive your business forward! This goes beyond understanding your brand. This means truly understanding their role in the process. They are one step in the customer experience, but they are not the only step.
When you get to a point of delegating tasks and assigning roles, it can be too easy for everyone to get caught up in the silos of their own job descriptions. Don’t forget that the customers don’t care about your team’s silos. They are looking at their own end-to end experience with your business, and they want it to be seamless. They don’t want to have to connect the dots for your team.
Customers don’t care about your team's silos. They are looking at their own end-to end experience with your #business, and they want it to be seamless. #smallbusiness #smallbiz #smb #biztips Share on XPart of my onboarding process for new team members is to walk them through the flow of my business. I don’t want them to be trapped in their role. I want them to know how their role relates to what is happening in the big picture. To know when the work that they do is creating opportunities and to know exactly what to do with those opportunities. I want them to know that what they do really matters. In that process, they learn how many different ways they can be effective at their job and that they truly are having an impact!
Their Word of Mouth is Powerful
Have you ever had a job you hated? How did you talk about that job and that business when you were in the confidence of your friends, family, and other social settings?
Have you ever had a job you loved? How did you talk about that when you were out and about?
Chances are that you talked about them differently. For the jobs you hated, maybe you vented the toxicity to those in your personal orbit. Perhaps you chose to say nothing at all. For the jobs you loved, I bet that came across clearly in the stories you told.
The people on your team have their own spheres of influence. They have stories to share and energy to give off about your business. Their personal network has a ripple effect into the world. That is marketing!
The people on your team have their own spheres of influence. #team #companyculture #business #smallbusiness #smallbiz #smb Share on XWhat do you want your team to say about your business? About you? About being on your team and the culture you have built. Think about it. You can make decisions to set it in motion.
Your team is important in so many ways. These are just three ways that they impact your marketing, and there is so much more that they contribute. Treat them wisely!