Before you make a promise to customers, talk to your people

By Andy Douse, Head of Communications at Wrapped Agency

Making internal communication part of every customer campaign

When I ran an internal communication agency, a comms manager from a major retailer called with an urgent request.

The business had invested heavily in a TV campaign promising customers that store colleagues would happily help. Something off the top shelf? Special packaging? A hand carrying shopping to the car? Just ask.

There was just one snag.

Nobody had told the colleagues.

The advert was airing in a week. Could we help?

A substantial budget had gone into telling customers what to expect. Preparing the people who would deliver it had been left until the last minute.

Imagine being one of those colleagues. You’re watching TV at home when you discover what your employer has promised you’ll do. Or you hear about it from a customer who’s already expecting it.

That’s an awkward introduction to a campaign.

When the promise reaches customers first

The retailer’s colleagues might already have been doing all those helpful things. They could have contributed brilliant ideas and helped make the campaign stronger.

Instead, they’d been left out.

And if a customer asked for the advertised help and didn’t receive it, the campaign risked making things worse. The advert had raised their expectations. The experience would disappoint them.

Before asking customers to believe a promise, give your people the chance to understand it, shape it and deliver it.

Your colleagues know what customers actually experience

Every organisation has people who hear the questions its marketing never answers.

Reception teams know what confuses patients about booking.

Customer service teams know which promises lead to complaints.

Sales teams know where buyers hesitate.

Ask your colleagues what they’re hearing. What do customers keep asking? What frustrates them? What do they appreciate?

Their answers tell you what customers expect, where things work well and what needs attention.

Bring that knowledge into campaign planning and you can make a stronger promise. You can also spot the practical problems before customers discover them.

In the retailer’s case, store colleagues could have explained what help they already offered, what customers appreciated and what sometimes made it difficult.

Sending a message doesn’t mean people understand it

Of course, you might already brief your teams before a campaign launches.

But how?

An email? A link to the advert? A mention in the weekly newsletter?

Those can help. The key is whether colleagues understand what the campaign means for their work.

The Institute of Internal Communication’s 2026 IC Index highlights a familiar gap. Leaders often believe they’re communicating clearly, while employees feel less certain about the organisation’s strategy and the reasons for change. The research is based on the views of 5,000 UK workers.¹

For a customer campaign, the test is quite simple.

Can your colleagues answer these four questions?

1. What are we promising?
2. What might customers ask us?
3. What do we need to do?
4. Where can we get help?

If they’re still guessing, there’s work to do before launch.

Five things to do before your next campaign

1. Talk to the people who will deliver it

Start while the campaign is taking shape.

Ask colleagues whether the promise reflects what they can offer. Find out what customers already value and where teams need support.

You may uncover a better story than the one in the original brief.

2. Make sure the service supports the message

If your campaign promises faster responses, can your teams actually respond faster?

If it promises personal support, do colleagues have time to provide it?

A briefing can explain a new service. It can’t fix a process that makes the service impossible.

Sort out those gaps before promoting the promise.

3. Give managers something useful to work with

Managers need enough time and information to have a proper conversation with their teams.

Show them the campaign. Explain what it’s trying to achieve. Give them examples of likely customer questions and clear guidance on handling them.

And make sure they know where to take questions they can’t answer.

4. Reach people where they work

An email to everyone’s work address sounds simple.

It’s less useful if people rarely sit at a computer.

Think about shifts, locations and working patterns. A short team briefing might work better than a long message. Some colleagues may need a demonstration or a chance to practise a new process.

Choose an approach that fits their day.

5. Keep listening after launch

Once customers start responding, colleagues will quickly learn what’s working.

Make it easy for them to share questions, problems and useful feedback. Then show them what you’ve done with it.

That might mean clarifying the message, changing a process or giving teams extra support.

The launch is the start of that learning.

Give your people a part in the story

There’s another reason to involve colleagues early.

It shows that you value them.

In that retail campaign, colleagues were central to the promise. Their helpfulness was the selling point. Yet they hadn’t been included in the conversation.

Imagine the difference if the business had started by asking them about the ways they helped customers every day.

Their experience could have shaped the creative. Their stories could have brought it to life. And they could have seen the campaign as recognition of the work they were already doing.

That’s a better starting point than finding out about it on TV.

A useful test before you go live

Before signing off your next campaign, ask a few customer-facing colleagues to talk you through it.

What do they think customers will expect?

How would they respond?

Is there anything they’re worried about delivering?

You’ll learn far more from those conversations than from checking whether a briefing email was sent.

If your people hear your promise from a customer, you’ve started the conversation too late.

What this means for your business

Your marketing creates an expectation. Your people help turn it into an experience.

Give them a voice while you’re shaping the campaign. Give them the information and support to deliver it. And take their concerns seriously when something doesn’t add up.

They know your customers. They know how the business works.

Bring that knowledge into the room before you spend money telling the outside world what to expect.

Planning a campaign, launching a service or changing what customers can expect from you?

At Wrapped, we help organisations develop clear messages and bring their people into the conversation, so teams understand the promise and their part in delivering it.

Talk to us

Reference

¹ Institute of Internal Communication. The IC Index 2026: The reality check that makes the case for internal communication. 20 May 2026.
https://www.ioic.org.uk/resource/the-ic-index-2026-the-reality-check-that-makes-the-case-for-internal-communication.html