Waikato Business News July/August 2020

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS July/August 2020
19
Do brand values boost sales?
The way businesses have treated their staff or customers through
the Covid-19 crisis has been revealing for many of us and, to
some, left a nasty taste in the mouth.
From the way they’ve
dealt with pay or redundancies,
to managing
customer refunds or ensuring
the visitor safety, we like to
think that most businesses
have worked from a premise
of doing what’s right.
Although we can all appreciate
the unique difficulties
many are facing, some companies
seem to have a stronger
handle on what’s right for their
brand in the long term than
others, as some actions seem
set to hit reputations hard.
At any time, most companies
claim to have strong
values and make the effort
to have them clearly defined.
This is fantastic. Staff need
to understand how to represent
the brand, how to develop
products that strengthen an
agreed philosophy or deliver
a service in a way that’s consistent
across the organisation.
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
But how much do I,
as a customer, really care
about your values? Should
they be reserved for your
internal communications or
does it boost your business if
you promote them to the outside
world?
When you meet someone
for the first time, you don’t
expect them to lay their values
out on the table. I don’t
walk up to you at a networking
event and say “Hello, my
name’s Vicki from Dugmore
Jones and my brand believes
in integrity, honesty and the
power of enduring relationships.”
If I did, you’d pretend
you’d spotted someone you
knew and bolt to the other side
of the room.
It is feels generally more
effective to exhibit what’s
important to us, both as brands
and individuals, in a more subtle
way, through actions and
behaviours and pervading the
way we tell our stories.
Researching suppliers
of a particular service for a
client recently, I got varying
responses that made me
scratch my head. For a level
playing field, I emailed several
suppliers the same request.
One rang me immediately, followed
up quickly on our chat,
was responsive and engaging.
We met, we got on, the quote
was fine.
From all that responded, I
could see that what they’d all
deliver for my client would
be comparable and generally
a similar price. But the job
went to the one who engaged
in the more personable and
genuine way. I don’t know
whether their work will be
better or worse than the others,
but I sense it’s all going
to be absolutely fine. Just a
few conversations revealed a
shared approach and attitude,
and all without needing a
TELLING YOUR STORY
> BY VICKI JONES
Vicki Jones is director of Dugmore Jones, Hamilton-based brand
management consultancy. Email vicki@dugmorejones.co.nz
bulleted ‘vision and values’
page to cross-reference
against. However, I suspect
their team knows exactly what
those bullet points are.
I’ve known organisations
be highly successful without
having values clearly defined,
but only where there was
strong leadership that inherently
demonstrated what they
believed to be right for the
organisation. And, which I
suspect is a major factor, only
in small teams where open
communication with all staff
is easily maintained.
I’ve seen an example of a
team attempting to retro-fit
values into a culture that was
starting to fragment, only to
see deeper cracks emerge.
This demonstrated to me that,
even in a small team, ensuring
your staff understand what the
brand represents from the early
stages of its development not
only helps them become your
brand champions, but builds
a stronger foundation from
which the brand can grow.
Externally, your potential
customer benefits by having
clear sense of what your
brand stands for. If you’re not
in a market or environment
where articulating values
through your products and services
(such as using ethically
sourced materials to reinforce
environmental sustainability),
your marketing and advertising
are the place where your
audience gets to learn more
about what matters to you.
Although clear values may
not directly boost sales, a lack
of them seems to make building
and sustaining a business
that much more problematic.
Most consumers care
how you behave, rather than
how you say you’re going to
behave. So, where does communicating
your values fit in
your marketing, communications
and sales mix?
Well, as always, that’s
entirely up to you but my take
would be ‘in the background’.
We can compare communicating
your values externally to
baking: they’re not the icing
on your brand cake, but an
essential ingredient within
the mix.
It’s like the pinch of salt
in baking that’s indiscernible
to taste but it enhances all the
other flavours and keeps your
customers coming back for
another bite.
Commercial Property
Management & Valuation
At Bayleys, we believe relationships are what businesses are built on and how they succeed.
We understand that to maximise the return on your property you need:
Professional property management
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A business partner that understands your views and goals
James Harvey
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P 07 839 0700 M 027 425 4231
james.harvey@bayleys.co.nz
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Branch Manager
P 07 834 6690 M 027 430 8311
mike.gascoigne@bayleys.co.nz
Curtis Bones
Senior Commercial Property Manager
P 07 834 3826 M 027 231 3401
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Registered Valuer
P 07 834 3232 M 021 112 4778
matt.straka@bayleys.co.nz
Joe Healy
Valuer
P 07 834 3232 M 027
223 8069
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