Brand reputation management is one of the most important variables for businesses to focus on. It curates the expectations for current and perspective customers. However, many businesses seem to falter, nor fully appreciate how helpful this activity can be for their brand. The hope of brand reputation management is to influence customers into believing what your brand stands for is accurate. Is it high quality? Is it doing good for the environment? etc. Many brands have mission statements and vision statements, but how many have a plan in place to ensure the way they see themselves, is how customers see them.
Recently, I had purchased some Sam Adams from the local store. Sam happens to be one of my favorite beers, because I always know what to expect, and think it tastes great. On this occasion, the beer didn’t taste right. I dumped it out, and tried another; which resulted in the same result. Anyways, as I am loyal consumer of Sam and this was a one off incident, I did not run to social media and complain. However, I did go to their customer service website, and shared my experience. I followed the instructions, and shared the situation, as well as a picture. I didn’t think anything would come of it, and carried on with my life.
The “wow” part came less than 2 weeks later, which is shown below. I received a letter from Jim Koch with an explanation of what happened, apologies, and a refund. In all honesty, I bought Sam again, within the following 7 days, and didn’t intend to stop. This communication from Sam Adams was truly above and beyond in my eyes, and has ensured that I will continue enjoying their beverages. If Sam, had failed to acknowledge the issue, I think there is a chance that I would always have in the back of my mind, the experience described. Due to the their process to deal with customer service, that issue is just a blip on my radar, from an overall stellar relationship with this brand.
Cheers, Sam! Great Work!
