There is not a great salesperson who became so selling a product they don’t admire, love and believe in. Once you see people being ashamed of being identified with a particular brand or product, know they cannot sell it.
You cannot say you love Uganda when you even don’t know its Anthem!
You cannot claim to be a proud Munyoro when you have never visited Karuziika, the seat of the throne. Obviously, you cannot claim to love the Kabaka, when you even don’t know where the Buganda Palace is located.
Action speaks louder than words.
Once at a strategic meeting, a team of directors who have been with the company for more than two years claimed lots of love for the company. The Founder, a very passionate man in his early 70s, asked for permission to put their sworn love for the company to the test.
They accepted.
He issued them a piece of paper and a pen. And asked them to write on one side, the top 5 major projects in the past 12 months undertaken by the company. And on the other side, they write the vision, mission and values and how they demonstrate living the values.
You guessed right.
The answers were varied. Just 5% of the directors knew the vision and mission. None knew the values off-head. No one has ever made a public presentation using the company as a case study.
This is a simple test of loyalty and brand value by critical stakeholders. In this digital agenda, ALL leaders want to win online at least to position a strong and reputable brand. It goes without saying, key stakeholders especially the staff are the champions of the digital agenda.
But you will be surprised at the following:
- How many of your staff on the payroll with 24/7 Internet access follow your company’s social media posts?
- How many of your staff on the company payroll indicate that they work at your company on their profile (for some companies in sensitive sectors, this could be prohibited by policy), however, if your work is in sales and growth, why not indicate so
- How many of your staff have ever invited their friends to like your company’s social media accounts
You get the gist.
Mere talk is cheap. Action is gold.
Are you proud of your brand? What have you done over and above the call of duty to demonstrate loyalty and love?
Think about it. This is 2020. The race to win customers has never been that tougher. Everyone must focus on one agenda to hit the target and win.
Copyright Mustapha B Mugisa, 2020. All rights reserved.
