May
20
I LOVE VISITING the Apple Store. Corner any employee and ask a question. Odds are you won’t get just an answer. You’ll get a gushing, aren’t-our-products-are-amazing? answer. Out of the millions of people who are sold on Apple products, no one appears quite as sold as Apple employees themselves. Their excitement is downright contagious. They make it nigh unto impossible for me to keep my wallet holstered.
It’s a great reminder to the rest of us marketers. Too often, we take care to romance and sell our mobile applications to outsiders, while with employees we default merely to “explaining” or, worse, “training.” After all, reason not a few managers, these people work for us. It’s their job to be enthused, right?
Wrong. Employees are customers. As with any customer, it takes more than a cursory introduction to get employees to march under your banner with gusto. You cannot afford to assume that they are innately psyched about your mobile strategies and other offerings.
This matters, because employees are hugely influential. At work, they interact with customers. Many are responsible for selling in person, on the phone or online. Those who aren’t directly responsible for sales still encounter customers and make an impression. Away from work, employees interact with family and friends who are customers or potential customers. Their insider status gives them greater credibility than your paid advertising. If they are versed and enthusiastic, their enthusiasm will shine convincingly through. If they aren’t, their lack of it will be an open, yawning, warning abyss.
So here’s a thought. Keep your employees plugged in. Let them know what you have cooking, who you’re cooking it for, and when you predict it will be ready. Let them know what makes it so cool. Give them sneak peaks. Don’t just send them a memo with operational procedures. Don’t just explain or train. Get them jazzed. Sell to them.