Win them in the hallways before you win them elsewhere

While working with a range of senior partners at Ernst & Young developing a content platform, we were talking about some of the most pressing questions that our nation needs to be thinking as we move to new ways of working.

One of the themes we uncovered, involves improving consumers’ digital experience, and how to ensure that your employees don’t get left behind.

Kurt Solarte, Leading Digital and Emerging Technologies Partner for EY Oceania, believes that the most vulnerable point does not directly deal with the customer themselves, but is more to do with the employees not being adequately enabled to win the customer over. Kurt explains that an employee can be easily ‘exposed’ in front of a customer, no matter how advanced or complex their toolset is.

“The customer now has more information about their service than the customer service person has, brands are spending millions on websites, apps and marketing, but staff are often working in the dark.”

“Employees are customers too - we should be turning them into valuable advocates for the brand.”

One of the approaches we have developed from not only looking at brand tracking, sales numbers, employee brand research and immersion sessions with our partners teams is ensuring employer brand and sustainability are pillars within the brand house.

From there developing a content mission to communicate internally the vision values and purpose of the business supported by a range of content.

Whether it be reigniting your purpose to increase internal sentiment and to inspire teams around your purpose like we did for Aurecon

Highlighting the growth of your business and its vision towards the future as seen here with our partner the NRMA https://3rdspace.com.au/case-study/the-nrma-purpose-launch/

Then having a distinct pillar around your proof of RAP and action in diversity equity and inclusion.

We’ve found this style of storytelling resonates from the inside out, where we have worked with our partners to develop a holistic brand content strategy that includes the value the business delivers to not only profits but people and planet. Launched internally and then echoed with consumer centric narrative to align with the values of the brands customers.

The other key content pillar is learning and training.

We’ve found using engaging entertaining content for training allows team members and sales agents to stay up to date with product knowledge and initiatives within the business.

The secret here is to make the team /sales agents the hero and stretch your tone of voice in a relatable entertaining way so it doesn’t feel like training.

With Globus Travel we’ve managed to engage over one third of the travel agents in Australia with The Globus Geni-us and delivered the world’s first Travel game show generating massive good will and PR reaching 1.4 million within the travel and associated industries with a unique event that became content.

We’ve also found interactive content platforms that allow team members to learn on any device at their own time has powerful impact. The Drinks Academy we created for Woolworths Liquor increased the average sales basket by $6.

The old “the customer always come first” adage should be rethought as a people led approach.

Both customer and team centric, using powerful story telling great through the best digital channels, in a way that enables your team to have as much knowledge as the senior team of the business and allows them to become as great an advocate for your business as your most passionate customers.

If you’d like to find out more about the Inside Out Approach please drop me an email as we are so passionate about the impact this style of content can have on your business

rob@3rdspace.com.au