A Parade for a Truck Driver
Welcome to the Why to Wow newsletter which is all about inspiring the hearts and minds of people worldwide with the Power of Differentiation. In this Why to Wow newsletter, I share my experiences over the last 40+ years helping leaders differentiate their brands and products. I hope it will inspire you to discover and share your own brand’s uniqueness with the world.
In my book The Power of Differentiation, I suggest that the experience your customers receive from your team is your brand to them. Think about it: If you walk into a retail establishment and are treated horrifically by the staff, you will likely walk away vowing never to purchase from the brand they represent again. Yet, was it the product that repelled you, or was it the service you received?
John Roussel, former COO of Shamrock Foods, one of the nation’s premier food service organizations, shared that perhaps the most important people in their organization are their thousands of truck drivers. More than just people who pull up to restaurants and stores with boxes of green beans and steaks, they are the “faces” of the Shamrock Foods brand, developing friendships with staff, restaurant owners, chefs, and dishwashers. They are the “heroes” who come through when an establishment runs out of yellowfin tuna, quickly returning before the dinner hour with enough to serve patrons for the weekend.
John told me the story of “Bob,” a Shamrock truck driver, who had announced he was retiring after decades of servicing restaurants in a small town in Northern Arizona. The citizens organized a ticker tape parade for him. Police escorted Bob’s Shamrock Foods truck as he drove down the street—lined with people on both sides, waving and throwing kisses—for the final time.
Bob was not “just” a driver; he was his customers’ friend and representative of the Shamrock Foods brand to the locals. I never met him, but I bet Bob was not perfect and may have made the occasional human error. But he showed that he cared, and somehow (credit to John Roussel and his leadership), he must have felt the power to solve problems and make decisions.
Difference-maker #1: Your customer (or client) experience is your brand in their eyes.
And guess who is the embodiment of it? Your employees. Sometimes they are so-called front-line employees. They are not low-level; they are your brand's face, heart, and brain to the customer.
Difference-maker #2: Your customer-facing team learns from and watches you.
If you show belief in your brand, they will as well. Leaders must celebrate what the brand and the team do that is valuable. Your customers will either feel that passion or lack thereof. There will be moments of truth when your employee has a decision to make: Do I help this customer (and my company) solve this, or do I recite the “rules” of the game, including “we can’t do that” or “that’s against policy?”
None of us can predict when a product will fail or a customer will be irritated. But we can prepare for that and more if we realize everyone on our team can potentially alter our brand experience for the worse or the better.
How many of us will ever have a parade in our honor?
Podcasts I Recommend
Here are two great podcasts I recommend if you’re looking for inspiring business insights.
A globally recognized expert in the art of strategic storytelling, Dr. Rod Berger dives into the minds of those you probably already know and those you should know, from famed athletes to world leaders. His book, The Narrative Edge, will be available this fall.
The nine-year-old Business of Story podcast, with more than 500 episodes, is ranked among the top ten percent of downloaded podcasts in the world. Hosted by Park Howell, the show features stories from around the globe that teach business, marketing and sales leaders how to excel through the stories you tell.