Branded Customer Service—The New Competitive Edge

Table of contents

1. Copyright
   1. Dedication
2. Foreword
3. Acknowledgments
4. Introduction—On-Brand or Off-Brand
   1. Why this book now?
   2. What flocking birds can teach us about branded service
   3. How to use this book
   4. Who this book is for
5. About the Authors
6. I. Linking the Big World of Branding to Customer Service
   1. 1. The Branding Imperative
      1. Branding: a way of doing business
      2. Brands: a compelling point of differentiation
      3. Your brand in action
         1. Consumers “own” their brands: the case of Starship
         2. Brands are names, logos, beliefs—and experiences
      4. The history of branding as it relates to the customer experience
         1. Brands and their links to psychological and social benefits
         2. Branding helps focus attention
         3. Branding as an evolving concept
         4. Brands hold their own attitudes
      5. Are brands losing their power to attract?
      6. Brand identity
      7. Brand stories
      8. Strong brands make economic sense
      9. Brand study: Apple Computer claims its defined space
         1. The challenge of channel marketing
   2. 2. Generic Customer Service Isn't Enough Anymore
      1. Brands deliver customers; being on-brand keeps them coming back
      2. The heart of the challenge: delivering brands through service experiences
      3. What you see through a service lens is what you deliver
      4. Service moments of truth through the eyes of branding
      5. The swell of customer dissatisfaction
      6. Without trust in your brand, forget it!
      7. The impact of customer contact on loyalty
         1. Customer service can be your ongoing brand reinforcer
         2. Loyalty is behavior that grows out of an ongoing relationship
      8. The limitations of generic customer skills training
         1. Generic service in the airline industry
      9. Why scripting won't work with branded customer service
      10. Our Lucaya brand study: a case of inspired on-brand behaviors
          1. Our Lucaya's brand induction program
          2. Giving the Bahamians permission to fly like swirling flocks of birds
   3. 3. Road Map to Branded Customer Service
      1. Brand space: staff cannot deliver what they do not know
      2. Four customer service strategies: which one is for you?
      3. How to polish your service lens to reflect your brand promises
      4. Two types of branded customer service
         1. Service can be offered in a way that reinforces your product brand
         2. Service can be branded so it is the dominant aspect of the brand
      5. Branding with bad service: it can be done
      6. Impact of branding your customer service
      7. Branded customer service and themed customer service
         1. Not everyone wants a themed customer experience
         2. Build-A-Bear: successful themed experience
         3. Envelop You: successful (fictionalized) branded customer service
7. II. Embedding On-Brand Service into Your Organizational DNA
   1. 4. Defining Your Brand DNA
      1. What is your brand DNA
      2. Relating your brand values to the five classic dimensions of customer service
         1. ServQual applied
      3. Inside-out branding
         1. TMI: an internal analysis
         2. From Time Manager workshops to culture change consulting
         3. Inside-out brand model
         4. Three defining market challenges
         5. Classic marketing mistakes when defining brand space
      4. Stretch: finding your space between brand push and pull
      5. Signals of an on-brand culture
      6. Human resources as a strategic brand partner
   2. 5. Brand Power Tools—Likability, Reinforcement, and Consistency
      1. Power tool 1: likability
      2. Power tool 2: reinforcement
      3. Power tool 3: consistency
   3. 6. Culture Change—The Bedrock of Brand Development
      1. The power of corporate culture and brands
      2. Changing corporate cultures
      3. Culture change and inside-out branding
      4. Brand study: Vodafone New Zealand
   4. 7. Communicating to Ensure Brand Resonance
      1. Seven guidelines for managing your internal brand communication
      2. Brand copy strategy
      3. Writer's workshop
      4. The outside in: your external marketing impacts your insides
   5. 8. Internal Word of Mouth—The Role of Brand Champions
      1. The role of brand champions
      2. Whom to nominate as brand champions
      3. Education for brand champions
      4. Management support for brand champions
      5. Brand champions as monitors of on- and off-brand behavior
      6. Brand champions as connectors
   6. 9. Human Resources—The Window to the Corporate Soul
      1. Staff recruitment
      2. On-brand hiring practices: Pret a Manger
      3. Brand book
      4. Brand study: the role of HR at the Isle of Capri Casinos
8. III. The Branded Customer Service Toolbox
   1. 10. Great Brands Are Supported from Within—The Role of Management
      1. The brand or the bland: defining your brand in the mind of your staff
      2. The value of repeated communications
      3. Using a discovery process to get the brand
      4. What managers want and need to know about their brand
   2. 11. Selling in a Branded World—Linking Your Brand Proposition to Your Sales Messages
      1. How relationship marketing affects branding
         1. Relationship marketing implies knowledge about the customer
         2. Selling creates time for reinforcing the brand
      2. Your sales structures and systems impact the brand your customers are delivered
      3. Consistency and on-brand selling
   3. 12. The Toolbox of On-Brand Exercises
      1. Brand awareness exercises for staff
9. Final Thoughts
10. Notes
    1. Introduction: On-Brand or Off-Brand
    2. Chapter 1: The Branding Imperative
    3. Chapter 2: Generic Customer Service Isn't Enough Anymore
    4. Chapter 3: Road Map to Branded Customer Service
    5. Chapter 4: Defining Your Brand DNA
    6. Chapter 5: Brand Power Tools: Likability, Reinforcement, and Consistency
    7. Chapter 6: Culture Change: The Bedrock of Brand Development
    8. Chapter 7: Communicating to Ensure Brand Resonance
    9. Chapter 8: Internal Word of Mouth: The Role of Brand Champions
    10. Chapter 9: Human Resources: The Window to the Corporate Soul
    11. Chapter 10: Great Brands Are Supported from Within: The Role of Management
    12. Chapter 11: Selling in a Branded World: Linking Your Brand Proposition to Your Sales Messages
    13. Chapter 12: The Toolbox of On-Brand Exercises
11. Bibliography