The importance of company values

 

At realestate.co.nz, Emma Davies is responsibe for driving the development and implementation of customer-first technology solutions. Emma ensures our systems are suitable for the job both now and in the future, in order to offer our customers the best possible service. Here, Emma explores the importance of embracing your company values from the inside out.

 

Developing an effective customer-first communication strategy requires you to have an in-depth understanding of your brand.

The Customer Service team sit on the front lines. They answer calls, find solutions, fix problems and are the day-to-day face of your business. It is here, in these individual phone calls or friendly email responses, that your brand comes alive. Your brand promise is either enhanced or sacrificed by what your employees say and do. Rather than a task to complete, each customer interaction is an opportunity for your company to shine.

That’s why it is essential for every member of your Customer Service team to live and breathe your brand.

At realestate.co.nz, we have four values at the heart of our brand and these lead the way in which we communicate with our clients.

We aim to be:

Clear

Positive

Knowledgeable

Considered

These values represent everything we want our customers to think and feel about our business.

These traits are important not only when our clients speak to us but when they speak about us. When your customers talk to others about your company, what do you want them to say? By determining your values from the inside out, you are able to begin taking control of your public perception.

That evolution begins in-house. First, you must ask yourself: “Do my staff understand how to confidently represent the brand in all that they do?”.

It’s one thing to choose a set of keywords and stick them in a drawer somewhere. It’s another to empower your employees to “live the brand”. Once our values were decided on, we ran workshops, we trained our staff, we circulated documentation and we plastered our values all over the wall in our office kitchen.

To implement this effectively, we had to define the meaning behind each of our values. We asked ourselves: “What does ‘clear’ mean?”, “What does being ‘considered’ look like, in a real life situation?”. Not all day-to-day Customer Service challenges can be covered off by a phone script or FAQ webpage, so it’s key that each of your staff can confidently embody your values and use that knowledge – and their own best judgement – to tackle any kind of situation.

Almost a year on, each team member not only understands - but believes in - our values, meaning they can do a better job for our customers.

In this time, our values have grown outwards. It’s important to note that you can’t simply tell your customers what your company stands for – you have to show them in each interaction you have with them. This philosophy comes alive in every customer service interaction, big or small.

By always coming back to these core values, we are able to gain and maintain our clients’ trust and distinguish ourselves out from our competitors.

What does your company stand for?