I am a big believer that a smile goes a long way. Not only do you feel lifted, but you will find that more often than not you get one back.
Happiness is catching. Try it, smile at people today and see how happy you feel when your smile has been acknowledged. Your brand is the face of your company, it’s your company smile. Whether it be a smile of contentment, a smile of reassurance or a smile with a certain twinkle, your brand should represent your company as a whole. If you have a happy brand, you expect any contact with your customer to be happy too.
Everything from employee expressions to pricing strategy represents all that you do and should make customers want to smile back. It is important that every aspect of your company is ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’. Any contact you have with your customers and suppliers represents your company’s personality. And your personality determines exactly what your customers think of you. Your personality should smile through. This thinking is the basis of the touchpoint theory.
A touchpoint is any contact you have with your customers. Just think. When someone answers the phone in the wrong tone; when a customer receives a wrong invoice; when a customer is disappointed with a result; all these are areas where your brand could easily deter any future or continued business. And we certainly don’t want that. At every point where your brand ‘touches’ the customer, it needs consistency and it needs to reinforce your brand promise. It needs to make them smile. At Happy Creative we call this The Happy Touch.
Not all touchpoints are equal. Some will play a bigger role in your company; some will have a bigger effect on the customer’s experience. Yet, at every point where your brand touches the customer, your brand promise should smile through!
To find out more about The Happy Touch, and how it can make a real difference to your business’ bottom line, contact Happy Creative.
Emma Dobson is a branding expert and Touch Point guru at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
