Awesome, awesome post. I am constantly amazed at the number of establishments without a clear services marketing plan. In light of the way so many companies are becoming commoditized (restaurants, grocery stores, home improvement stores, electronics stores, etc., etc., etc.), service provision becomes the only way companies can differentiate. HR and Marketing need to be working together with every new hire, not only to bring on capable employees, but to bring on employees who will actually contribute to and increase the value of the company’s brand. I think that strong internal marketing can benefit any company of any size with any client-type.

Again, my profuse compliments.

I agree with your position on B2B — with one corollary: small B2B organizations are exempt from that rule. While HP’s size and scale makes most of their B2B appear B2C, for lots and lots of other organizations that is just not the case. That is why I continue to differentiate between B2B and B2C (ever after the acronyms went out of style and became “back to basics” and “back to college”)

Nice Job, liked the post very much…

Esteban

KermitFan, great to see you here (been awhile)! Interesting observations on customer service. I think the impressions we have of a brand, based on each interaction, all add up to a total brand experience. As you pointed out, this can be good or bad depending, often, on what kind of customer service we get. Thanks!

Lewis, if customers are the foundation of a company, employees are its lifeblood. These examples cited were most likely not from companies that are valuing employee contributions. It all has to work together. Thanks for the insight!

Esteban, I think this is important also for business to business companies. When I used to work at HP in the B2B side, we made a point of creating joint goals between marketing and customer service. This helped bring everyone together so that all interactions, whether from billing, customer service, tech support, or marketing, are consistent and supportive of the brand experience. Thanks for your “two more cents”!

If most of your customer interactions happen through service, that is where you efforts and resources should be. Marketing does a good job, but the reach as far as customer exposure is limited. if they work together with service, they just quadrupled their exposure.

Even though it is not being done in most organizations, marketing and service should work together – marketing leads in message, service leads in interaction management.

just two more cents…

It goes beyond marketing and customer service to every employee who shares anything about work with anybody. That is why companies that ignore treating employees with respect and dignity and fail to train and communicate daily are hurting themselves, their bottom and top lines and their brand image. Excellent observation and post.

What you say, and how you say it, makes a lasting impression on customers — from Marketing, to customer service, to accounting, every word and action counts.

In any case, your questions are valid. In every situation there, you will find answers in the book What to Say to a Porcupine? Grab a copy if you can.