I took my Lexus to get serviced today. At the end of my appointment, the service agent informed me that they had placed the plastic mat I use to protect the carpets from the driver’s seat and put it in the trunk. “Placing two mats on top of each other is really dangerous,” she said politely. “The mat could bunch up and cause accidental acceleration.”
Sound familiar? It should. Toyota recalled millions of cars and lost billions of dollars when several of its vehicles mysteriously accelerated, risking the drivers at the helm. An independent and official report released by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) eventually cleared the company of any electronic flaws.
During that time, Toyota’s PR team dealt with the crisis admirably, releasing information promptly, using their website and social media to keep the public and their customers updated about the recalls. They deftly painted a better picture of Toyota by cleverly keeping positive information in the company’s press releases, advertising, YouTube channel and other social media outlets. (Don’t believe me? Compare Toyota’s and Motrin’s press releases during their respective recalls.)
But, the service agent’s comment brings to the forefront just how integrated Toyota’s marketing efforts are. Your processes have to back up your own marketing efforts. If you sell service and your employees answer the phone with, “What do you want?” instead of “How can I help you?”, marketing can’t fix that. Toyota has said from the beginning that their customer’s safety is top priority. They’ve developed videos about it. Now, their dealers (who are not even directly owned by Toyota) are ready to take the somewhat intrusive step of pulling mats out of cars to protect their customers.
In short, it all lines up.
So, the next time you advertise your business, make sure you’ve put thought into how you are going to deliver what you process. All the advertising and social media in the world can’t fix a broken process.
