No matter how much you spend on branding, the customer experience comes down to the people on your frontline: The hostesses, maître d’, servers and all your employees who are interacting with your customers on a day-to-day basis. Not only are they the face of your brand, they’re also the ones charged with delivering your brand promise.

Do your frontline employees think about that brand promise when they come to work? When they’re trying to decide how to handle a disgruntled guest, are their decisions guided by the values that support your brand? When you can engage them in the brand, the answer to both questions can be yes.

Frontline employees want to hear it from the top

In a recent national study (full disclosure: my company, Tribe, conducted this research), 84 percent of non-desk employees said they receive “not enough” communication from top management. If you’re like most companies with non-desk workers, you probably delegate communication with this group to their immediate managers. That’s a fine channel, but depending only on direct managers to communicate with key employees is a mistake. Communication should reach all levels of employees.

Lack of corporate communication is seen as lack of respect

This research indicates that non-desk employees interpret a lack of communication from corporate as evidence that the company does not value or respect them. Not only are these employees subsequently less engaged than they could be, they also have a poor understanding of what the brand represents. They are unclear on the vision, the values and the goals of the company, as well as the brand promise the company has made to consumers. That means the people who are interacting with customers are not prepared to deliver the desired customer experience upper management expects.

Source: www.restaurant-hospitality.com

Ritwik