Let's face it, many of the individually owned and operated businesses that existed "back in the day" are being replaced by branches, franchises and big boxes - all of whom have a brand identity. If you are a local operator, you need a brand, too.
Actually, you have one already even if you don't know much about it. According to Wikipedia, a "brand" is "a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan and design scheme.
"Brand recognition and other reactions are created by the accumulation of experiences with the specific product or service, both directly relating to its use, and through the influence of advertising, design and media commentary. A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, product or service. A brand serves to create associations and expectations among products made by a producer. A brand often includes an explicit logo, fonts, color schemes symbols (and) sound which may be developed to represent implicit values, ideas and even personality."
This somewhat turgid definition can be paraphrased. All the experiences that people have regarding your business add up to the images and associations that are your brand. This includes direct experience, what they hear people say and what their five senses tell them.
Not exactly the same thing as "reputation," but very close. So you already have a brand. The question is, how much do you purposefully create and control it so that it works in your favor?
There is much said and written about branding, and a lot of it is pretty sophisticated and expensive to do. Quite frankly, sometimes folks get so carried away with embellishing the concept they don't notice they are executing poorly on the basics. Here are some inexpensive ideas about how to manage the powerful basics of your brand:
1. Do what you say you are going to do. Positive experiences cause customers to tell their friends. Don't miss deadlines and always try to "underpromise and overdeliver" on quality and features, not the other way around.
2. Surprise people. Don't forget that negative experiences spread much faster than positive ones and are harder to overcome - if you get a chance at all. I'll never forget the credit card company that put a $50 credit on my account to make up for what was really a minor administrative error. I was surprised and pleased, and my negative impression was promptly replaced by a positive one.
3. I'm not suggesting you try to buy off every disgruntled customer. But if you have one who is valuable to you, and you know you were in the wrong, do something meaningful and surprising with a big smile on your face. The investment will be returned to you many times over, and you will have cut off a potentially negative story about you.
4. Another example happened to me right after I had submitted this column for publication, but I found the experience so relevant that I revised the column to include this story. I had recently bought a used pickup truck at a local used vehicle dealer, and although the 30-day warranty had passed I took it there to get some help, which I planned to pay for. The passenger side window would go up only with the driver side control; it did not respond to the passenger side control. A young man from the service department said he could fix it right in the driveway by taking a relay out of another truck, and then he would order a replacement for that one.
He said it would not take long. I must not have been watching him carefully, because after just a few minutes I noticed he was not around. Thinking he could not possibly have fixed it already, I went into the service bays and found him. He had indeed finished it, and when I asked him how much I owed, he said, "nothing," because I had bought it there recently.
The whole thing took less than 10 minutes and cost me nothing. I had considered going to the service department at the new-car dealership, thinking they would be the only ones with the part and that I was out of warranty anyway. How long do you think I would have waited and how much do you think I would have been charged?
Where do you think my first stop will be the next time I'm thinking about anything automotive?
5. Pay attention to the visual aspects of your business. The colors you use, the fonts in your written materials, the way you and your employees dress, the way they interact with customers. Also, the appearance of your place of business inside and out, which definitely includes any landscaping. It should all be harmonious, and it should all point in a consistent way to the basic message you want customers to get.
6. A logo is very important to branding, but these other things are other important, too. A good logo is an attention-getter and it communicates the core image you seek. It must be simple and it must project a clear feeling about your business at a glance. If you don't know what I'm talking about, get a graphic artist to design one for you. Over time, it should gather and symbolize all the positive vibes you create as you manage the customer experience.
7. Stand for something. Present yourself as an expert at something specific. People will understand and remember that, not, "We do A to Z," or, "No job is too small." If you are not an expert at anything, you need to think long and hard about that. If you are expert at something, milk it for all it's worth. People seek out experts, not generalists, and they will pay more.
8. It starts with your employees. They need to understand and support the brand elements discussed above. They will do this if you explain it to them and if you treat them the way you want them to treat customers.
Forrest Steele is a financial and operational business consultant and lives in Lake Placid. He can be reached at forreststeele@yahoo.com