LESLEY EVERETT is one of the world's leading Branding experts
Exclusive Interview
By LAURIE STONE
Editor-at-large
LESLEY EVERETT is one of the world's leading Branding experts, She is the creator and CEO of Walking TALL, an international speaker, executive brand coach and author of three books.
Why Personal Branding is becoming a focus area for businesses
YOUR brand and reputation as a company today is created and conveyed more powerfully by people and their behaviours than advertising campaigns, marketing collateral or premises. The way leaders and employees interact with all stakeholders, not just clients and customers, and how they make them feel, will result in an experience that will be remembered and quite likely talked about, whether positively or negatively.
Quite simply, what your customers say about your brand to their contacts, is your brand, and this will always come from the experience they have had with you. So how do you know if your brand is being projected in alignment with your brand messages and values consistently and that it’s not being diluted on a daily basis for your competitors to exploit?
The gap is increasing
The environment we live in and do business in is ever-changing – as consumers and clients, and as suppliers, we perhaps sub-consciously put much more value on being treated well and receiving a great experience that we can talk about and that makes us feel good, than in the traditional standards and out-dated levels of customer service. Today, we expect more, but in reality that quality of experience is often lacking. Yet it should be so very simple to achieve.
We are constantly presented with advertisements that give us an insight into the experience we can expect to have when we visit the furniture store, the supermarket or the theme park and the experience bar is set high.
With our work at Walking TALL being focussed in the corporate brand reputation area, we have found that standards are lapsing rather than rising and that the height to fall from is sadly ever-increasing.