This document discusses the importance of people in delivering service and building brands, especially for finance and insurance companies. It argues that consumers are loyal to the individuals who provide them service, not just the company brand. All aspects of a company that interact with customers, including employees, processes, forms, and statements, contribute to how the brand is perceived. For service companies to successfully build their brands, they must ensure all employees understand and represent the brand values, empower staff to customize service, and integrate people, processes, and physical touchpoints to deliver a seamless customer experience aligned with the brand promise.

1. Truth about Brands in a
Service Economy
“Consumers aren’t loyal to the company that provides the
service, they are loyal to the people who provide them the
service.”
Anisha Motwani

2. It’s so true about finance brands
They are all service brands
- Intangible products, lots of and continuous
consumer interactions
Anisha Motwani

3. To what extent would our impressions of
finance brands be impacted by…
…TV Advertising?
…Print Advertising?
…Radio Advertising?
…Direct Mailers?
…Easy-to-remember toll-free numbers?
Anisha Motwani

4. To what extent would our impressions of
finance brands be impacted by…
…The telemarketer pestering us?
…The insurance advisor who we meet?
…The person on the helpline?
…The customer care officer who went the extra mile?
…The timely reminders on mail / SMS?
Anisha Motwani

5. There’s more to finance brands than brand
communication
Anisha Motwani

6. There’s more to insurance brands than
brand management teams
Anisha Motwani

7. Because it’s all about people:
people delivering the service and
people consuming the service
Anisha Motwani

8. Delivering Service
Anisha Motwani

9. The 3 additional P’s of the marketing mix for
service brands
• People
– How are the employees, sales, after-sales and
customer service staff of your company handling your
brand?
• Process
– How are the rules, procedures and systems of your
company handling your brand?
• Physical Evidence
– How is the physical evidence (your forms, account
statements, etc.) of your service handling your brand?
Anisha Motwani

10. People
• Does the staff know and feel the difference in their brand
versus the competition?
• Does the staff believe in the brand and its values?
• Is the staff empowered to customise and deliver the
service to its different customers?
Anisha Motwani

11. Even the telemarketer
who mispronounces a customer’s name,
contributes to quality of service delivered
Ditto for the customer service representative,
who says he does not have the authority
to modify the database information
Anisha Motwani

12. Process
• Does the process allow for customisation?
• Is it customer-friendly?
• Is it employee-friendly?
• Is it in sync with the overall brand promise?
• Is there a service recovery process / plan?
Anisha Motwani

13. Is the process a hurdle or an enabler of the
brand’s promise of ‘fast service’?
Or is the company policy coming in the way of flexibility in
options enjoyed by the customer for paying premium?
Anisha Motwani

14. Physical Evidence
• Do the application / claim forms make life easy or difficult
for the customer?
• Are the account statements and documents easy to
understand?
• How many asterisks are there next to the brand’s promise?
Anisha Motwani

15. Questions to ponder about
• What are we doing to ensure every individual involved in
creating the brand is aware of his or her responsibilities?
• Are we aware that both front-end and back-end managers are
creating and responsible for brand building in today’s context?
• Do they understand what the brand is and what they should be
doing to create the right brand and brand experience?
• How should we share brand philosophies and values to make
every creator an owner of the brand?
• Are we still stuck in a manufacturing world and leaving the allimportant task of brand building and management to a group of
advertising and communication managers within our company?
• Are our people, process and physical evidence seamlessly
integrated to deliver the brand experience we want to create?
• Are we tracking all the key parameters of service that could
influence our brand’s perceptions?
Anisha Motwani

16. Something worth thinking about
Thank you
Anisha Motwani