I have a wonderfully silly chocolate lab named Bill (See pic below). Now from time to time Bill, like any dog, gets a bit gamey. So last Sunday I wandered down to one of our self-serve dog washing shops (Denver is dog-crazy, so we have scads of dog-washing, dog-sitting, dog-grooming, dog-boarding, dog-whatever establishments).

Bill the Dog being cute

Like usual I was running late and got there about a half hour  before they were supposed to close … plenty of time, I thought. When I walked in, there was one guy and his affable looking poodle in front of me. I turned to the clerk and she gave me a look like my dog just farted … you know, sort of a slight stink-nose. “I’m not sure we can fit you in … let me check,” she said running to the back. I chewed on my lip thinking, I’m not asking you to wash him for me; I just want one of your bathing areas for 10 minutes and me and Bill will be outta here. She came back with another employee who said, “Yeah, we’re low on towels and we’re closing here soon, so we can’t fit you in today. Sorry.”

Now, I will be the first one to tell you that the customer isn’t always right (years ago when I waited tables, I once had a guy send back a ribeye steak of which he had eaten 9/10 … some customers are just not worth keeping). But I’d been to this place dozens of times, and I wasn’t even really that late. What I’m saying is what happened to the “Yes, we can help you out” or “We’re out of towels, but we can certainly find some way to get your precious poochie clean.” What happened to the “Yes we can,” because, if anything, a strong brand is about making things possible for your customer.

The moral: Your brand is only as strong and vibrant and engaging as the people you put in front of it. Make sure your employees and brand ambassadors have permission to say “yes” and are committed to the cause. Otherwise you brand could go to the dogs (sorry, couldn’t resist).