The term 'Friendship Branding' was coined and popularized by Ms. Lois Geller in her book "Customer for Keeps". It is all about customer service and customer relationship building. This is not an unknown area and the concept is known for many decades. There are hundreds of very good books on customer service and customer relationship building and there is nothing new or sensational in the book, but it is a good light read and reinforces the basic ideas, concepts and principles of brand management. I liked the presentation. Friendship Branding is all about making people thinking of your company in a human way. It is about building brand loyalty over a period of time. It is about the way your brand or company can deliver distinctive customer satisfaction and build long term relationships with each and every customer. It is about building brands that people respect and enjoy. What Geller means, to put it simply, is that a brand must have a human face. While the term 'Friendship Branding' is new, it is an old wine in a new bottle as a concept.
An average customer pays a premium for security and quality. Seeks the known over the unknown, stays loyal to the brand that works for him or her in both in tangible and intangible forms. If a brand can be friendly, what more can a customer ask for? This is what is friendship branding is all about. Friendship Branding is a Brand that is customer friendly. A real friendship is about relationships with people. It must be a unique experience based on mutual respect and trust. A brand is more than a name, promise, advert, jingle or logo. The brand must be a unique experience, every time at the point of contact, for the customer to come back again and again. A brand must make the customer feel that it has enhanced their lifestyle and self image. The basic premise behind friendship branding is that it must treat the customer as a friend does - with respect, dignity and trust.
Friendship branding starts from the Gatekeeper to the CEO. Even one small mistake, the customer is not going to forgive. Earlier we had the neighborhood grocery and provisions shops. We could compare prices and haggle to our hearts content because the owner was a friend. It was a friendly match on who blinked first. Everyone knew everyone else. It was more of a meeting place for the local community rather than a shop. People used to share their joys and sorrows. Today, we are served by the huge super and hyper markets with artificial greetings and plastic smiles on people’s faces. There is no sincerity behind the smiles. While training is important, no amount of it can change the basic attitudes of people to customers. It must come from within, from the bottom of one's heart. This quality and trait is a natural gift of god in some people. Organizations must recruit gifted people for customer service and building customer relationships.
One problem we all face is that with increase in costs of manpower, we switch over to high technology for communications and service. But it does not solve all our problems. Sometimes, it can be vexing to a customer when the remote computer cannot understand what he or she wants. A computer is just a machine. It is cold, neutral and exhibits no feelings. No machine or software can replace a human being for the warmth and goodwill he or she can generate. No BPO service provider can completely replace the company that actually provides the product or service. There is too much of communication, distortion and feedback problems. It is at this point the customers desert the brands. Brand desertion starts small, but builds into an avalanche, sweeping everything in front of it. The chance of regaining the lost brand loyalty is 1:20 or even lower in a highly competitive world. Brands are all about trust. Just like in personal friendships, it is equally applicable in business. Brands that make this happen are the real winners. Building trust and friendship is the basic story of all successful brands.
© Copyright, December 26, 2007. www.madgopes.com . Without prejudice. All rights reserved
To learn more about this author, visit Madhavan T Gopalachary's Website.
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Madhavan T Gopalachary
(Visit Madhavan's Website)
Madhavan Gopalachary, nick name "madgopes"
(g pronounced as in go) given by IIT
classmates, is a Mechanical Engineer and
an alumnus of Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras having passed out
specializing in IC Engines &
Thermodynamics.
He has nearly 35 years of experience in
the Corporate World. He started off as a
trainee and handled sales, marketing,
manufacturing, product management, profit
center management, strategic planning and
corporate development including R & D in
various organizations and at various
levels before becoming a CEO. His last two
professional assignments were at CEO level
before embarking to start management
consultancy business on January 01, 1998.
He has worked for British, Swedish MNCs as
well as very large Indian business houses.
He has spent a large portion of his time
from June 1998 till date in East African
Countries practicing as an independent
Management Consultant.
More details can be obtained at the
following web sites:
mmg.name/
mtg.html
mmgconsu
lting.biz/
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