SALES AND MARKETING: What's in a Name?

One of the most important components in a company’s marketing strategy is its name. Choose it once and choose it well.

First, make certain you do not select a name that another company is using or has the legal rights to. Ask your attorney to do a search for you to make certain you are permitted to use the name you have chosen. If you are, legally register it and any slogans you wish to use with it to prevent anyone else from stealing them.

Choose a name that clearly and succinctly conveys what you do and is easy to remember. Let’s say you’re considering naming your company The Green Co. Sounds simple and succinct, and maybe even suggestive of landscaping. But if people were to see this name splashed on the side of a vehicle parked in their neighborhood, would they know what services your company provides? Not necessarily. They might think Green is a family name and that The Green Co. is a construction or delivery or extermination business. And you might be missing out on a great marketing opportunity.

It’s true that there are remarkably successful companies whose names do not convey what they do – Amazon, Monster.com and Yahoo come to mind. These companies can also spend enormous amounts of money on national advertising to communicate what they’re about. But we’re landscapers and we’re generally competing locally. We don’t have large advertising budgets. We need potential customers to see our names and immediately know what we do.

Now let’s say your name is Mrs. Donovan and you name your company Donovan’s Landscaping Co. Your company’s name is simple, succinct, and it communicates what you do. What’s more, you can now build your brand around your own persona. You can put your picture on your business cards, pen an article on landscaping for the local newspaper, serve on the board of the chamber of commerce, and offer lawn tips on local TV. The brand starts to take shape and after a few years of complementary marketing initiatives – a newsletter, direct mail postcards, job site signs, and, most of all, jobs well done – people begin to recognize you and frequently ask, "Are you Mrs. Donovan the landscaper?" If you had chosen not to use your own name, you’d have missed out on all of these wonderful opportunities to reinforce your brand.

When you put your last name on the door, people take notice. In my experience, people who hire landscapers like to do business with the owner; using your last name says you stand behind your work. Look around at the successful companies in your area and chances are you’ll find that many of them are named after the owner. This is not a coincidence. This is because the owner personifies the company and the owner makes a company successful.

Now let’s talk about a slogan for your firm. Create one that leads clients and prospects to take notice. For example, Target’s slogan – "Expect more. Pay Less" – manages to convey in four words exactly what customers get from shopping there. Mark Baker from Turfmaster’s in Fort Wayne, Ind., has an excellent slogan too: "Green grass, great service." It’s simple, it communicates what the company is about, and the alliteration makes it memorable. Look at what your clients have come to expect from your firm and build a slogan around that. Ask your team for ideas. Once you come up with a few, send them around to other experts and ask them what they think. There are also consultants and firms that specialize in creating names and slogans for companies struggling to find an identity; you might want to consider seeking their help.