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One of the most repeated phrases you’ll hear when people talk about quarterbacks is “the face of the franchise”.  Tom Brady is clearly the face of the Patriots franchise.  While Tom Brady is an employee of the Patriots (the most valuable employee, but still just an employee), he clearly encapsulates the values that Kraft has set for the entire organization.  Because Brady perfectly represents the Patriots, each time he goes to work, whether it is on the field, in interviews, or public appearances, Brady always adds value to the Patriots brand because fans (customers) and advertisers see the Patriots values in action.  Many of the Patriots players fit this mold and those that do not are usually not with the team very long. 

Who’s the face of your franchise?  The face of your franchise is each employee who interacts with people outside your organization, whether it is customers, vendors or competitors.  If your customers have a difficult time dealing with one of your employees, that is what your customers will associate with your brand.  But the reverse is also true.  Let me give you an example.  One of the companies that I was fortunate to help build was a brewery called Tremont.  A large portion of our customers were restaurants and pubs in Boston that were either owned or managed by people from Ireland.  What we did at Tremont was have interns from Irish universities come and work as customer service reps so each time a pub owner called they heard an Irish accent on the other end of the phone.  Was our brand Irish? No, but our customers were and “the face of our franchise” was too. By enhancing the experience that our customers had when they called the brewery greatly increased the value of our brand to our customers.  How can you improve the experience that customers have with your brand?

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve read about matching employees to company values was about the rules that companies have in place to control employee’s behavior.  If you have rigid rules that dictate how employees are to behave, then you are hiring the wrong people for your company. If you hire the right people, you won’t need rigid rules, you’ll need loose guidelines which help employees make good decisions.  When you hire the right employees, you trust them to make the best decision for the company. If you don’t trust them, why did you hire them?

Employees are an integral part of your brand image and they are the face of your franchise.

 Tim Kaelin - ProfitDriver