How to Turn Your Field Service Employees into Brand Ambassadors

2018-04-13

You have all the branding you need, right? Are you sure?
If you’re a field service company and you follow the traditional steps in branding, you’re not making the impact you want. More importantly, you’re not using the most important branding tool you have available.
Your field agents.
For field service companies branding at the office looks impressive, but it’s not helping you get ahead in the market. Your target audience doesn’t see it, so it can’t improve their opinions of you.
You need branding where the work is being done.

Why is Branding Important?

Branding items and campaigns aren’t nice to haves. Every company should prioritize branding, because it determines your future:

• An established brand carries credibility so consumers will trust you easier
• Clients are more loyal to a brand than a freelance service provider
• Branding helps deliver your message regarding products or the change you want to bring in the market
• It aids in building an emotional connection with your clients

While these reasons focus on your clients, your branding will also impact your employees. A brand unifies a group of people—your agents—so they’ll work harder to reach the communal goal.
Since your employees aren’t under your supervision every day, you need this tool even more than some other businesses.
So how do you get all this right through your field agents?

How to do Branding in the Field Service Niche
I hope you know exactly what your brand is about. Now it’s time to make sure everyone does.

Do They Understand Your Brand?
You know what you want your brand to represent. But your field agents have unique perspectives. When last did you share your vision and talk about your brand?
This is a challenge in the field service niche, because face to face contact with your employees is limited. If you’re serious about building your brand, you’ll have to organize gatherings to discuss this.
And this is not a once off arrangement. New agents may join your team, or your brand strategy may change. Keep your entire team informed, so they always know what you expect of them.

Make the Brand Actionable
Let’s get the facts straight. Your brand is not only the colors you picked for your logo or even your slogan. Branding is about communicating your values. This is what makes your company more personal and gets you the trust from your consumers.
And where do these values play a role? They should be part of every task your teams take on:

• Delivering quality work
• Being on time
• Putting the customer first

A motivated employee will look for ways to benefit the company’s brand. But it won’t work if you hold up philosophical theories. Your field agents can’t impress people with talk.
Help everyone stay on track by expecting specific tasks in line with your brand values. If you value your community, ask agents to identify problems in the area while they travel each day.
Now you can enquire from local government about resolving these problems. This is how your brand gets the respect it deserves.

Use Their Knowledge
Your employees know the area they work in, but also the people they work with. Despite a manager’s insight, he or she may not be conscious of the problems clients face every day. But your field agents see this first hand.
Include them when you plan on improving client satisfaction. If a brand value is to put the customer first, you must know what they want.
Here’s a bonus: When employees feel included and appreciated for their efforts, they’ll be even more motivated to source more information for future planning. You get better feedback and service will improve.

Let Them Participate Online
And here’s another area you have to trust your employees’ insight: Social media.
Branding goes hand in hand with marketing. No company can survive in this internet driven society without promoting itself online. What does your business’ social media impact look like?
Here’s where your field agents come in:

• When they post real time stories, your content shows what your brand is all about.
• Field agents may understand clients better than you do. Their authentic interaction—an important part of social media marketing—will let clients feel understood.
• Sharing company information on their own profiles means your brand gets exposure to a larger audience.

This is what brand marketing is all about. Don’t miss out on this.

Does Your Management System Promote the Brand?
When last did you assess your management system? Are you sure it’s in line with your company’s values?
Your management system determines whether your employees can apply the company’s brand values every day:

• Can they access job cards easily to be on time?
• Can they contact managers during a crisis for swift resolutions?

If these situations relate to your brand values, it’s your responsibility to empower your employees, so they can live up to branding expectations.

Dress Them Up
And let’s not forget the number one tool to ensure your brand is seen everywhere. Branded clothing worn during field work helps communicate:

• The brand’s colors
• Professionalism
• Unity among colleagues
• The style of the business

Don’t Forget to Measure the Outcome
An implementation process always ends with measurement. Are your employees doing what you expect of them now? Here’s where you need to customize your customer feedback—questionnaires or ratings—to represent your brand’s characteristics.
Don’t simply ask if a client is happy with the service. Ask:

• Did agents act professional?
• Was work done on time?

Now you can quickly gauge when a new branding discussion is necessary, and whether your tactics work.

Don’t simply do the work. Build a brand. Your business may reach more heights than you expected. Now you’re benefiting employees who want to be part of a greater picture. This in turn helps clients receive better service. And instead of running a company, you’re leaving a legacy.