O
ne of my driving desires is to
look back when I am 70 and
see how much I contributed
to some brands as employee. I want
to have the good feelings of being
an ambassador and a brand loyalist.
I recently came across a prospective
customer who was so loyal to his
bank and difficult to convert because
the bank was the customer’s former
employer. His loyalty touched me.
In organisations, the most successful
employees are those not necessarily
with the best of skills but who are
rightly connected to the objectives
of the company. Good company
ambassadors are people who play
their roles and portray themselves as
the owners of the organisation. They
imbibe and live the company core
values, find avenues to change things
and represent the brand positively all
the time.
Being an ambassador of your
company benefits you and your
career in so many ways. Here are
a three attributes of a true brand
ambassador.
Contagious Loyalty:
You cannot be a
good ambassador for a company you
do not love and accept its core value.
You must live the company’s core
values, love the products and accept
the leadership of the company. If you
love the company, you will promote
the brand everywhere, anytime. One
of the ways to develop infectious
loyalty is to avoid complaining about
your employer. Instead, do all you can
to improve or change things. At every
engagement opportunity, seek how
the brand can be better and not how
you could benefit. Your loyalty must
be strong to the extent of infecting
others with your level of passion and
belief in the company’s mission. Thus,
you must think and act like the owner
of the brand.
Brand Knowledge:
Every entity is
unique. Some call this internal workings
or culture. You must have the total
knowledge of how things work and
how emotions influence decision
to be an effective ambassador.
You must know the products, the
processes and how best to manage
the decision makers in the best interest
of the company. Your knowledge of
the brand will help you in playing the
role of a change agent and creating
a circle of influence. Once again,
let your action be geared toward
the benefits to the brand and not to
you. Being an ambassador is about
all the extra things you can do for
the company. The knowledge of the
products and internal workings will
enable you to represent the company
in any capacity.
Profession Expression:
What you
say about competition is as important
as what you say about your brand.
In the process of representing the
brand you work for or love, don’t
“de-market” others. I am a UBA and
industry ambassador and when faced
with questions about competition, I
often reaffirm the fact that no bank will
die while selling my UBA. This has given
me a professional image of someone
who has the industry in mind. Your
professional expression cuts across
different spheres of life. The way you
appear outside work, your utterances
with colleagues and customers are
part of the judgement metrics for
assessing your brand loyalty.
44 •
The Lion King
• January - March 2017
Howtobea
truebrand
ambassador
By Babs Olugbemi
