Leverage What You Do Right in Your Marketing Plan!

I recently watched a commercial for a carpet cleaning company that advertised the ongoing training their employees receive. I’m not necessarily looking for a carpet cleaning company but it made me think about the wisdom this company used by leveraging what they do right as part of their marketing plan.

We moved into a new home a few years ago and I looked for a moving company to help us. This was prior to Angie’s List so the only way I knew to assess quality of the organization was to question them about their business practices. The first thing I asked was whether or not they provided training for their employees and if they solicited customer feedback and tracked customer satisfaction. I was amazed at how different each company responded to these questions. I ultimately chose a company that did both employee training as well as customer satisfaction surveys. Knowing employees participated in a structured training program was important to me (because I didn’t want them dropping my stuff) and I knew that if they solicited customer feedback they probably had a process in place to deal with customer issues.

7 Examples of Things Organizations Can Leverage in Advertising

1. Employee Skill Training

Most people place value on employee training because it gives them confidence that the product or service they are purchasing is delivered by a competent worker. Whether it is a mechanic working on your car or a customer service representative, people want to know that the person taking care of their needs has had the proper training to do so.

2. Criminal Background Checks

We all feel vulnerable when someone enters our home or takes care of a loved one, so whether your business has service technicians or you run a daycare who takes care of children, letting customers know that criminal background checks are done as part of your employee screening process can help ease the customer concerns. I work with an organization that does background checks on volunteers that help with a summer day-camp. Parents find comfort in knowing that workers caring for their children have been screened.

3. Certifications and Accreditation

Accreditation and certifications verify an organization’s credentials to provide quality products or services. The paying customer is interested in how qualified a company is to meet their needs, so whether an organization hires employees with certifications in information technology or is accredited through the Better Business Bureau, the customer cares. These kinds of credentials are what separates the amateurs from the professionals.

4. Best Places to Work

Customers like to interact with happy employees. Organizations that can boast about being nominated or winning awards for best places to work demonstrates creditability with the community and employees.

5. Financial Transparency

Nonprofit organizations that rely on donor funding need to be financially transparent to maintain credibility with contributors. When organizations or persons donate to a nonprofit, they want to know that the money they are donating is being used for what it was intended for and is being managed wisely.

6. Satisfied Customers

Customers that purchase products or services want reassurance that they will receive what was promised. Soliciting, monitoring and sharing customer satisfaction data can be a very effective recruitment tool. Customers want to know that their needs will be met, their voices will be heard and their issues will be resolved.

7. Quality Data

Consumers want to know that they are purchasing quality products and services. Using quality data in advertising is a great way to educate consumers. Whether an organization can claim a 0.001% product defect rate, short wait times or has won the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, quality data can be a great way to sell your product or service.

Our consumer driven culture is demanding more and more transparency in how organizations are run. Advertising what an organization does right is a great way to attract the educated customer, so you might as well boast of your best practices!