Marketing-Gimbal

Enterprise Car Rental Delivers an Exceptional Brand Experience

My wife and I returned from our annual trip to Martha’s Vineyard to ready our home for the rental season. As with any trip these days it’s stressful, taxing and can sometimes be downright painful.

We were in a rush this morning to make the flight, and had to return a car we rented with Enterprise. I always assumed that Enterprise was the car company that car dealers offered you when you brought your car in for repair. When my wife informed that she had attained the best rate from Enterprise I was very surprised, not only at the rate, but also that Enterprise had a location at the airport.

I have come to learn that Enterprise bought National and Alamo car rental in the last year, and that has given them an airport footprint. What really amazed me, besides the fact that Enterprise had provided a better rate than Avis or Hertz, or that they were located on premise at the airport, was the absolutely spectacular brand experience I received when we returned the car.

We were greeted by two folks who quickly welcomed us, and then immediately asked this question: “Was there anything wrong with the car or that detracted from your experience with Enterprise?” I said no (after years of just being happy that a rental car would start, all my expectations were met), which was then followed with “We always want to know if there is something we can do better”. Wow, a car rental company that was actually interested in my experience and if there was anything I thought they could do better. What a novel thought!

A 2^nd young lady then took our luggage (I tried to stop her as I really should have been carrying the luggage) and hauled it to the shuttle van, where the driver then hoisted the luggage onto the bus. This was followed by “Thank you for renting a car with us. Let us know if we can be of service for your next trip”.

Upon arriving at the terminal the driver brought our luggage off, and asked us if we needed anything and then said “Have a safe and enjoyable trip home, and thanks for renting with Enterprise”. My wife informed me that upon renting the car (My wife arrived and rented the car a week prior to my arrival) the service was almost overwhelming, as it was such a shock to the system that someone in the travel industry actually cared about their brand experience.

 

 

I had rented with Enterprise about two years ago, and I didn’t recall this level of engagement or service. What was even more surprising to me was that their employees actually seemed to enjoy working the job. I wondered if there was a push to evolve their brand experience recently and I would love to know how they achieved an integrated experience after acquiring two additional rental car companies. I couldn’t find any direct evidence, but I did come across an article written in that last year that listed five steps for success which I’ve listed below:

·         Ask the customer. Enterprise calls about 2 million customers a year to ask how satisfied they are and whether they would consider renting from Enterprise again.

·         Make happy customers count. While pay depends on branch profits, managers don't get promoted unless they keep customers satisfied.

·         Link arms with partners. An Enterprise computer system, the Automated Rental Management System, or ARMS, connects Enterprise branches with insurers and body shops to track the progress of repairs, saving everyone countless phone calls and faxes.

·         Save money to earn money. The technology, along with Enterprise employees working on site at insurers, has helped reduce the length of wreck-replacement rentals, costing money in the short run but bringing in more business.

·         Help employees grow. Most of Enterprise's top managers started at one of its branches. To add opportunities, Enterprise doesn't expand an office that has grown too busy. Instead, it opens another, partly to give new managers a chance.

Enterprise states on its web site: Every interaction with customers, from the start of an Enterprise Rent-A-Car reservation, until the rental car is returned, is an opportunity for us to please and gain a lifelong customer. With more than 6,500 locations in North America and Europe, it is this emphasis on Enterprise Rent-A-Car customer service that keeps the company growing.

In a time where more and more companies are deploying technology to further disinter mediate human interaction, Enterprise is deploying some old school customer service, and pressing the flesh. In doing so Enterprise is building a brand experience, pinned on service, in an industry that is woefully lacking a similar concept. Nuff said.

Twitter Helps Latest LA Food Sensation Gather Its Tribes

 Kogi is the latest phenomenon in LA dining. Chef, at world famous restaurant, decides to forgo glitz and glamour and create a unique fusion of Korean and Mexican food and serves up these delectable concoctions in roving catering vans all over LA.

I’m not making this up folks, and it’s the stuff that Hollywood is made of. I’m sure the food network is already doing a show on it. While I’m a foodie at heart, the real story is one of a relatively unknown (until recently) mobile catering truck that used Twitter and awesome food, to create a following, and help lubricate word of mouth in America’s 2^nd largest city and now the world.

As Kogi is a mobile business, and a small one at that, it needed a way to tap into the following that it had created, and who was already talking about Kogi on Facebook, other social networking sites and blogs. Kogi’s brand director, in a recent Reuters article, stated that they decided to use Twitter as a way to communicate with their “tribe” and facilitate gathering places based on the trucks location. Kogi turned to Twitter. Today you and Kogi’s 23,000 followers can be found on Twitter at twitter.com/kogibbq.

This shows the amazing capability of utilizing a social media tool to facilitate a small business with a large following, and an excellent product. So let’s look at Kogi’s ingredients for success:

1.      Great Product: Kogi obviously has a tremendous product. Social media success and for that matter any business, starts with an amazing product or service.

2.      The Tribe of Kogi: Kogi’s customers wanted to talk about their experience, and in fact had became a tribe. Seth Godin writes that “a tribe is any group of people connected to each other through an idea or experience”. In this case, Kogi’s customers had become a tribe, but we’re missing a leader. When Kogi stepped in, and utilized social tools Kogi become the leader of its own tribe. A place where a brand wants to be at the end of the day.

3.      Honesty: The social community in this case is honest. Kogi delivers an amazing product, people want to talk about, and others want to experience it and Kogi facilitates this. Kogi’s goal is not about selling or hyping, at least not yet, and let’s hopes it stays that way.

4.      Word of Mouth: WOM is the best advertising around. This is as old, as the hills, and still true. Kogi couldn’t buy the brand awareness it has now, and is getting through the facilitation of communication across its tribe. Social Media can help any small business if the intent is to converse with the community of customers and prospects; not sales or advertising.

5.      With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility: Kogi must now realize the importance of its brand experience, and promise that its customers have come to expect. Any degradation in service and experience will travel at the speed of light in Kogi’s social universe.

6.      Innovation: While Kogi’s responsibility to its brand experience is now much greater it has an amazing community of people to listen to, and engage with, and in doing that develop new innovation in its business.

This story shows how small businesses can take advantage of building and tapping into their community. Today, McDonalds and Burger King do not have Twitter accounts and Domino’s only recently started one to help combat the recent wave of bad publicity. Why haven’t the brands, with all the resources in the world, tapped into the tools that help them engage with their customers? Probably because they are still strategizing, and trying to figure out the ROI of a conversation. Nuff said.

Cindy Kim Has A Blog

 I wanted to give a shout out to my colleague, Cindy Kim,who works with me at Lumension. Cindy is the consummate PR professional, and one who really understands how to weave core PR principles in with the new social media philosophies and tools. Cindy has been instrumental in leading our social media initiatives at Lumension, and really knows how to leverage old school with new school approaches for maximum leverage.

Cindy’s blog is titled The Marketing Journalistwhere Cindy will provide provide an insider’s perspective on public relations, marketing, social media and corporate communications.

Please take a moment to hop on over to Cindy’sBlog and leave her a quick post on what you think. Nuff Said.