According to Enterprise IG, 70 percent of customers’ brand perception is determined by conversations with employees; and yet, Gallup Poll found that only 41 percent of employees understand what their companies stand for.

What stories are your employees telling? And how would you go about changing these stories to create a clear and consistent customer experience?

First, companies must discover the story they want to tell. Effective customer communication starts with a clear, compelling and consistent Corporate Messaging Platform.

But then getting that story into the hearts, minds and voices of employees requires change. The word “change” often elicits an involuntary stress response. Why? Because change isn’t easy.

Chip Heath, author of Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard wrote, “

[A leader’s] rational side may say that the company needs to go in a different direction. But the emotional side is comfortable with the old ways of thinking and selling, and it has great anxiety about whether the company can change successfully.”

The fear is real, and it’s valid. Nearly half of all corporate change initiatives fail. To succeed in changing employee behavior, build a plan that:

  • Creates awareness through sustained internal communications
  • Develops skills through learning that’s reinforced over time
  • Integrates your new story into sales processes, service scripts and more
  • Builds desire through recognition and rewards
  • Monitors the impact of change through effective measurement method

When marketers work across lines of business to engage change amongst executives, HR teams, sales organizations, customer service and delivery teams — change can be successful and reap tremendous benefits. By helping employees deliver a clear, compelling and consistent message through disciplined organizational change initiatives your company will:

  • Realize new business opportunities and growth
  • Articulate credible, mutual business value in every customer conversation
  • Engage employees with authentic reasons to believe
  • Build trust with customers through a consistent messaging
  • Achieve measurable business and performance goals

As the industry continues to add more and more channels through which to reach customers, it is imperative that marketers select the ones that will have the biggest impact on reaching stated goals. Investing in changing the way employees bring your company story to life will have a lasting effect on the customer experience.

Watch this short video to learn how you can achieve desired business results with organizational change programs.