When I was an early twenty-something in college, I worked in restaurants in the Atlanta, GA area. I think of the experiences I had working in the hospitality industry often – I met so many wonderful people, I laughed, and I learned so much about customer service and people in general. I didn’t know it at the time, but these years were perfect training for my later work in the tech industry and at Hey Reliable.
Attitude Is Everything
At one restaurant in particular, I still recall how grueling the training was – and how it shaped my thoughts on what branding really is and why it matters. One point that has stuck with me through the years was related to vendors. If the person delivering food or the kegs that day decided to sit down and have lunch – their meal was on the house, and they were to receive the same customer service experience as guests.
Another important lesson that I saw in action on every shift: attitude is truly contagious. If one person started to go downhill and let a little hiccup get to them, it spread like wildfire throughout the whole restaurant staff.
Fast forward a few years, and I was a freelance designer looking for a development team to code a design for me. I hired Hey Reliable and was so drawn to the brand messaging and the way the customer service team member at the time made me feel. Her communication was so warm, so friendly, and I looked forward to calls and emails from her. After I was hired a short while later, I learned that this was all by design and was trained on the Reliable Voice I’d come to know and love.
Little did I know that a few years after that, through a serendipitous combination of luck and hard work, I’d become the owner of this business I love so much.
It’s been a priority for me to maintain this warm, friendly brand voice, and every day we as a team still work at doing that better than yesterday. We also do so with each other and with our vendors as well, whether we’re chatting with them on the phone or in a chat window. Attitude is contagious, and our company culture is very friendly, welcoming, and pleasant as a result.
Not Just Good Karma But Good Branding
I’ve been on business calls or on email threads before where I’ve heard people saying things that still make me cringe to this day. Luckily, I’ve been on way more business calls and email threads with people who are so unbelievably kind and wonderful. Who am I more likely to recommend to a friend? Who am I more likely to pull some strings for if needed? People remember the way you make them feel, and the way we communicate with each other makes a difference.
Do things right, and that’s the kind of marketing you can’t buy.
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