Brand Perception – It’s Not About You February 25, 2010
Posted by Jeff Nolan in Branding.Tags: brand perception, Branding, business, consumer conversation, entrepreneurship, management, marketing
7 comments
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be in business and it got me thinking about what business truly is about. Your business, your brand, your employees and your customers have a perception of what it is that makes your business, well, your business.
A lot of people think about a business as a simple transactional process, meaning that they are in business for one reason, to sell a product or service to the consumer. I believe that this way of thinking is very backwards and that in order to be successful in creating a brand that people will flock to, or an organization that people will follow, you need to think first about what you can do for others.
To be seen in a positive light by your consumers, not only do you need to have a stellar product or service, you need to have the moral fortitude to put the interest of everyone that makes your brand exist first. This is especially true in today’s world of constant communication and consumer driven conversation. If you want to have people talking about your brand positively, you need to give them reasons to do so.
Brand perceptions are formed the second a person makes contact with your company or organization. Is your receptionist friendly and charismatic in a way that they can brighten somebody’s day? Do your sales/customer service people go out of their way to return all phone calls or emails personally? Is the organization involved in charitable causes and giving back to the community? Is the office clean and comfortable for visitors?
These are all questions that you should be able to answer yes to as a President or CEO. One thing that I would suggest for upper management to do, is to take a look at all the channels in which your brand touches people: including employees, marketing/advertising, events that you put on, your building, customer service interaction and yourself, to make sure that there is alignment, as well as consistency in your brand representation.
Remember, the customer perceives your brand in their mind, not in the way that you want them to. If you take the time and effort to offer a personable, friendly, responsive, kind and generous brand, along with quality products or services, you will want the consumer to talk about your brand, not be afraid of them doing so.
From the top down to lower level employees, what does your brand look like?
The Value of a Thank You Note January 20, 2010
Posted by Jeff Nolan in Branding, Business Communication, Networking.Tags: Branding, business, Business Communication, business relationships, business technology, communication, thank you, value
8 comments
Business technology is evolving every day, so much in fact, that it is often times hard to keep up with it all. Communication is much quicker for business than it was even just yesterday, or the day before that. The simplicity of business communication and the speed at which idea transfer happens, transactions are made and learning evolves, adds a unique complexity to the value of it all. Yes, someone can get a hold of you immediately through email, or respond to your tweet about your philosophy on “social media for brand building and the companies that miss the boat” in an instant, but is there always value in that?
There is so much noise that we are caught up in on a day to day basis. We are bombarded by tens of thousands of brand messages each day. We receive hundreds of emails, phone calls, text messages and tweets, yet often times none of these offer genuine value or interest to you. Sometimes, old fashioned communication is a good thing, it relieves us from the everyday overload of instant communication. Old fashioned communication also has established the foundation for building strong business relationships, and that my friends, should not be taken lightly. Two things I know are true, people like to talk to a friendly voice on the phone and they like to receive personal mail.
There is often a lot of value lost in today’s business communication, because people no longer want to take the time sit down and write a thank you note or spend time checking to see how a friend is doing. I personally love to receive thank you notes, it gives me the feeling that someone took the time to care. Even if you have no particular reason to send a thank you note, find a reason to connect with your network as often as possible, it will benefit you in the long run.
After all, a thank you note has a guarantee that it will not get lost in the shuffle of modern day business communication, because frankly, the USPS isn’t up to speed and that’s not always a bad thing.
Take 5 minutes of your day today, tomorrow or the next day to send someone a thank you note, it is the best branding you can spend 44 cents on.
-Jeff Nolan
