Show Your Integrity: Be Sure Your Employees Believe in What You Sell

It took a village to raise my awareness — my awareness, that is, of the value of a company’s demonstrating confidence in its product.

In my case, the product was a much-needed Florida resort vacation in December. The destination was a Club Med with all the usual perks, plus, of course, a respite from the New York metro-area wind chill. But while enjoying one too many chocolate brioches at brunch — the company is French, after all — I had the pleasure of chatting with several of the staff who mingle with guests. At Club Med, the entire resort is called a village, and its employees (GOs, for genteel operators, a French translation) and GMs (gracious members, or guests) play, dine, drink and dance together every day and night. The GOs don’t crowd the GMs, but they’re ubiquitous. And, although they’re working, they really seem to enjoy it.

Back home in the deep freeze, my bags unpacked and my head returned to reality, I got to thinking. If a firm is selling something — whether it’s a product or a service, a pastry or a session with a personal pastry chef (pardon the extended dessert theme) – I’m more inclined to purchase when the employees I encounter appear to use what their company offers.

Let’s assume here that the product or service is good to begin with. The sales pitch is paramount, sure — but equally important is the integrity of the brand. And, one good way to show that is with staff that doesn’t just talk the talk.

In the investment world, that can mean having a good portion of the fund team’s personal assets invested in their strategy. Or for example, the tech universe: Part of Apple’s marketing genius is those folks in the blue polo shirts – the geniuses. These are first-rung employees who, based on their salaries, won’t be competing with the Jobs estate for the Fortune 500 list anytime soon. They’re there, presumably, because they embrace the Apple culture. Part of that allure is the discount on some iproducts, to be sure. What better way to be a brand ambassador?

When marketing, the consumer’s point of contact may be with a director who appears in the company’s advertising vehicle. Whoever it is must show the same level of passion as everyone down the chain of command who is seen or heard by the company’s intended audience – whether it’s in person, online or in a print or TV ad. Consumers may be easily duped some of the time, but the moment they catch a whiff of hypocrisy, they run for the hills. How many celebrity endorsements have gone bad when the camera caught an unwitting actress/model/fill-in-the-blank using a competing product?

Outside the celebrity orbit and back in the land of regular employment, marketing integrity starts with sound employee engagement. This year’s Gallup report on the State of the American Workplace shows that of the 150,000 full- and part-time workers surveyed, just 30 percent of respondents were engaged in the workplace, while 52 percent were not engaged and 18 percent were actively disengaged.  Among that engaged 30 percent whose engagement extends directly to consumers are the folks more likely to complete the sale. That makes for better business, and satisfied employers.