Brand personalities

 

Customer experience isn’t just about service. It’s also about your brand. Think of your business as a person, with a personality. The way it behaves can have a significant impact on your customer experience.

For example, take Amazon and the annual Nunwood Customer Experience Excellence Index. They were 1st in 2010, 2011 and 2012. They slipped to 4th in 2013 and 5th in 2014. Why? – it was down to media coverage about the level of tax they paid in the UK and the way they treated their employees. Nothing else had changed. They just hadn’t behaved the way their customers thought they should.

Here are some of the types of brand personalities used most often. Which one is your company (some may seem a bit weird but then some people are!)?

Innocent – behaviour comes from their values and beliefs. Idealistic, optimistic, and hopeful, they keep going when the going gets tough. Good at motivating others to trust that everything will be OK. They’re most excited and challenged by opportunities to put their personal values into action.

They are often successful at ignoring and moving through barriers that would stop others. They see what’s right in almost any situation; and maintain faith in their ideals. But, they need to make sure they’re not in denial about real problems. They can be resistant to change/innovation, or too loyal when loyalty is not deserved.

Everyperson – work by helping others belong and fit in to the group. Empathetic, unpretentious, and resilient, they often show their common touch. They can motivate others to try hard to do their best. They’re usually excited and challenged when a group has to solve a problem.

They are often successful at providing a sense of belonging and human dignity to others. They create hard-working teams that take pride in their work. They are good at fostering real team spirit. They need to be careful about playing the victim. Also, they can become cynical and negative, creating an “us vs. them” mentality. Sometimes they are too protective of their own turf.

Hero – spend time rising to and overcoming challenges. Determined, achievement-oriented, and focused. They enjoy demonstrating a winning attitude. Can often motivate others to achieve their goals. They’re usually excited and challenged by the opportunity to beat the odds.

Successful at producing consistent results and creating teams and systems that fulfil objectives. They give everything to achieve a goal. They need to be careful about seeing others as enemies. Often they respond to stress by working harder and harder. They can rush into action instead of thinking things through.

Caregiver – focused on making a difference for someone else. Compassionate, nurturing, and dedicated, they enjoy being supportive. They can motivate others to provide better service or care. They’re usually excited and challenged by responding to needs.

Most successful at providing consistent, high-quality service or care. They are good at creating stable and nurturing environments. Often they are advocates for others. They tend to be martyrs and can burn themselves out while always putting others first.

Explorer – Look to seek out new approaches and perspectives. Independent, authentic, and curious. They can follow unique paths and motivate others to explore uncharted territory. They’re usually excited and challenged by the opportunity to blaze a new trail.

Often successful at staying current with trends. They are good at encouraging individual initiative, and helping others  learn and grow. They can be unwilling to settle down or commit to a course of action. They are also prone to forgetting to coordinate with others, and can ignore the needs of others.

Lover – Enjoy building relationships. Appreciative, passionate, and committed. They enjoy creating consensus and motivating others to see and use their gifts. They’re usually excited and challenged by opportunities.

Often successful at building real partnerships among employees and clients. They see the possibilities for greater quality of life inside and outside work.  Can build harmonious teams, but can be cliquey and look to avoid conflict.

Revolutionary – Always looking to change something that they feel needs changing. Often unconventional thinkers who can develop new, cutting-edge approaches. They enjoy challenging the status quo and motivating others to question. They’re usually excited and challenged when they can take on tried-and-true methods or ways.

Often successful at developing radical ideas, products, and services. Good at leading change. Often play devil’s advocate, but can come across as reckless. Others can see them as shaking things up for the sake of it, and becoming confrontational.

Creator – enjoy seeing new ideas take shape. Expressive, original, and imaginative. They enjoy demonstrating their inventiveness and motivate creative thinking in others. They’re usually excited and challenged by opportunities to express themselves or advance new ideas.

Most successful at developing distinctive, original products and services. Also good at innovation but can overload themselves with projects. Tend to be perfectionists.

Magician – Want to see a vision realised. Intuitive, insightful, and inspiring. They can see different points of view. Good at motivating others to believe that anything is possible. They’re usually excited and challenged in times of great transformation and turmoil.

Good catalysts for change and turning problems into opportunities. Strong at empowering and creating flexible, win/win solutions for all. They can be manipulative, and lose patience with those who aren’t as visionary as they are.

Ruler – look to show leadership in complex situations, and use their influence. Confident, competent, and responsible, they enjoy showing their knowledge. Good at motivating others to maintain high standards. They’re usually excited and challenged by opportunities to take charge of a situation.

Successful when they can make decisions that benefit others or create positive outcomes. Good at making order out of chaos but need to be careful about dominating others. Can get bogged down in policies and procedures, and become hierarchical or political.

Sage – Motivated by finding the answers to great questions. Intelligent, knowledgeable, and reflective. Understand the value of thinking things through and motivate others to seek the truth. They’re usually excited and challenged by complex situations and problems.

Successful at developing significant expertise. Good at gathering and analysing information so that it’s useful to others. Can contribute knowledge to almost any situation. They need to avoid ivory tower thinking, dogmatism, and coming across as lacking feeling/empathy.

Jester – Work best when they can use their ingenuity and wit. Playful, spontaneous, and funny. They enjoy light-hearted stories and can motivate others to see the value of fun. They’re usually excited and challenged by opportunities to lighten up stressful situations.

Successful at brainstorming and thinking outside the box. Find clever ways around obstacles and have fun while getting work done. Need to be careful to stay on task when getting routine work done. Can use humour in hurtful ways and come across as being unable to treat anything as serious.

 

Keep in touch for regular advice and practical examples about customer experience.

Get in touch to see how we can help your business.

Ask an expert if you have a specific question about customer experience.