Whether you realize it or not, your company is already branded. Customers make, every day hundreds of evaluations of companies based solely on what they know. Rarely is any additional effort made to dig deeper, to learn more before forming an opinion. Realizing this, and what branding really is, is vital for the small business owner.
The best laid plans are useless unless the worked-for goal is accomplished. You can easily attempt to brand yourself as the industry leader in your field, but if you fail to live up to that, even once, the results can be detrimental. It is far better to be seen as a middle of the pack player than as the complete fraud you will be perceived as should you fail to live up to the image you are projecting. This fact must play a huge role in developing your marketing concept and budget. So where do you begin?
1. Start by realizing how you are currently perceived. Make calls, send surveys, ask many questions in an attempt to see how past clients have liked (or disliked) your service or product. How did their interaction make them feel? What are their expectations should they work with you again? Even more importantly, how would they describe you and your company to a friend?
2. Take the replies you receive and compare them to your mission statement. Are they different? How so? Was the response you received expected? Why or why not? Work with a trusted friend, coworker or consultant to honestly evaluate your current position.
3. Develop what you want to be. Do not try to be too much! A very common mistake is to attempt to be all things to everyone. You want to be the fastest, cheapest, and the highest quality in your industry? Good luck with that. Focus on one area where you can differentiate yourself. Be the most creative, easiest to work with, or the fast in response time. Be able to quantify this.
4. Develop a business plan focused on your new brand, enabling you to deliver it well. Emphasize this focus in all client and company meetings, as well as in a consistent theme in your mission statement and marketing. Do not attempt marketing campaigns that emphasize a variety of benefits, focus on one, and be able to quantify it.
5. Set controls. These are benchmarks in your processes that will tell you if you are on track to deliver what you have promised. If you brand yourself as the company in your industry with the fastest response time, have you lived up to this even before the project is completed? How quickly are phone calls and emails being replied to? Is there a company guideline for this?
Having a company that is not well branded and without a business plan to back it up results in a company that cannot grow. Pick one area of expertise, and do it well. Once it is mastered and can be maintained, you can add to it. “Jack of all trades, master of none” is great for the neighborhood fix-it guy, but disaster for your business.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
The role of a Management Consultant.
Unfortunately for the small business world, owners don’t typically look to a management consultant until they are in dire straits. Money is running out, your suppliers are at your door, and payroll seems to never end (here’s a hint-it doesn’t). But with a good consultant on board, these issues could have been avoided long ago.
Why? Because the normal issues in business are not the problem. For the small business owner, the real issue is accountability. Staying motivated and accountable to someone is extremely difficult over time, especially when the monotony of the day to day development kicks in. Usually, the business was started by someone very skilled in his particular field, but not necessarily so in business. And soon, the initial excitement wears off, and the issue staying motivated kicks in.
Not only will a great consultant give you direction, and the knowledge necessary to accomplish your goals, but he will break down your long term goals, setting smaller, attainable, ones. It is a simple concept, yet often hard to stick to. Consider, for example, weight loss. If one has 100 pounds to lose, it seems daunting. Break it down to 10 pounds a month for 10 months, it becomes far more manageable. A great consultant becomes your guide. He will help you set small goals, and then be there for the “weigh-in”, keeping you focused on the big picture.
Often, consultants are hired to perform a specific task, say, develop a sales team or install a computer network. A management consultant should be regarded differently. Establish a long term relationship with a consultant you trust, and he will be with you every step of the way. You should feel free to call with issues, even between meetings, and he should keep you motivated. Your regular meetings should review past goals and set new ones, establishing a level of responsibility to your consultant, working with him in paying attention to even the smallest of details.
To make this work, don’t wait until you’re in dire straits, and desperate for help. Start earlier, even as you start your company, in working with the right consultant. Look for one that is priced to allow you a long, steady partnership, and in the end, the result will be a company that enjoys consistent growth. There will always be issues, but very few that good management cannot handle, and a great consultant will partner his skills with yours to maintain a healthy company.
Why? Because the normal issues in business are not the problem. For the small business owner, the real issue is accountability. Staying motivated and accountable to someone is extremely difficult over time, especially when the monotony of the day to day development kicks in. Usually, the business was started by someone very skilled in his particular field, but not necessarily so in business. And soon, the initial excitement wears off, and the issue staying motivated kicks in.
Not only will a great consultant give you direction, and the knowledge necessary to accomplish your goals, but he will break down your long term goals, setting smaller, attainable, ones. It is a simple concept, yet often hard to stick to. Consider, for example, weight loss. If one has 100 pounds to lose, it seems daunting. Break it down to 10 pounds a month for 10 months, it becomes far more manageable. A great consultant becomes your guide. He will help you set small goals, and then be there for the “weigh-in”, keeping you focused on the big picture.
Often, consultants are hired to perform a specific task, say, develop a sales team or install a computer network. A management consultant should be regarded differently. Establish a long term relationship with a consultant you trust, and he will be with you every step of the way. You should feel free to call with issues, even between meetings, and he should keep you motivated. Your regular meetings should review past goals and set new ones, establishing a level of responsibility to your consultant, working with him in paying attention to even the smallest of details.
To make this work, don’t wait until you’re in dire straits, and desperate for help. Start earlier, even as you start your company, in working with the right consultant. Look for one that is priced to allow you a long, steady partnership, and in the end, the result will be a company that enjoys consistent growth. There will always be issues, but very few that good management cannot handle, and a great consultant will partner his skills with yours to maintain a healthy company.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The Value of Branding
Good branding is one of the most successful tools in starting and growing a business. It does far more than advertising alone; it provides your company an identity, setting exact expectations for your potential clients. While good branding often provides a larger client base, its greatest asset is that it provides the golden egg of business: higher profit margins.
General advertising has one goal: bring in more customers. This is easy to measure; responses to a phone book ad can be measured, a coupon placed in the local penny saver can be tracked. Sometimes it works, sometimes it may not. Branding does something different: its goal is simply to be the answer to a potential need a customer may have. Let’s use pizza as an example.
Consider a potential customer arriving home from work and looking through the mail. They see a flier for a competing pizza restaurant. To that point, they were not thinking of pizza, but since there is a coupon, and it’s about dinner time, they call and enjoy pizza that evening. This is the goal of advertising. It can create a need when there was none previously. Now let’s say that same potential customer, on his way home was thinking about pizza. And when he thinks about pizza, he thinks about your pizza place. In his mind, there is no other pizza place. When he gets home, he sees the same flier for your competition, but it goes ignored, since you have already branded yourself as the place to go for pizza. Now here is the largest advantage: there was no need to sell at a discount, no need for coupons to drag them in. In fact, you could even charge premium prices, increasing your profit margin. In your customers mind, you are not just an option; you are the only option.
Consider a women’s clothing store that primarily sells dresses. There are a million such stores in every county; there are a few in every strip mall. And should a potential customer see your flier or commercial, they may get the idea to visit your store. And more than likely, they will visit your store between visits to similar stores; your competition. But let’s say you have branded your dress store as the solution to a need they may have. For example, prom dresses. Through your logo, your website, and the copy in your advertisements, you have branded yourself as the place to visit for prom dresses. Now, when that need arises, you are the option. Sure, you sell more than prom dresses, and you are free to point this out when your store is flooded with new customers every April that are willing to pay top dollar for their daughters prom dress.
The key is this: before you spend a fortune on full page phone book listings, television commercials, and magazine ads; focus on branding your company. Decide what need in your market you want to fill, and show it. Develop a logo and/or tag line that makes this clear. Consistently use it in all marketing. And watch the money roll in.
General advertising has one goal: bring in more customers. This is easy to measure; responses to a phone book ad can be measured, a coupon placed in the local penny saver can be tracked. Sometimes it works, sometimes it may not. Branding does something different: its goal is simply to be the answer to a potential need a customer may have. Let’s use pizza as an example.
Consider a potential customer arriving home from work and looking through the mail. They see a flier for a competing pizza restaurant. To that point, they were not thinking of pizza, but since there is a coupon, and it’s about dinner time, they call and enjoy pizza that evening. This is the goal of advertising. It can create a need when there was none previously. Now let’s say that same potential customer, on his way home was thinking about pizza. And when he thinks about pizza, he thinks about your pizza place. In his mind, there is no other pizza place. When he gets home, he sees the same flier for your competition, but it goes ignored, since you have already branded yourself as the place to go for pizza. Now here is the largest advantage: there was no need to sell at a discount, no need for coupons to drag them in. In fact, you could even charge premium prices, increasing your profit margin. In your customers mind, you are not just an option; you are the only option.
Consider a women’s clothing store that primarily sells dresses. There are a million such stores in every county; there are a few in every strip mall. And should a potential customer see your flier or commercial, they may get the idea to visit your store. And more than likely, they will visit your store between visits to similar stores; your competition. But let’s say you have branded your dress store as the solution to a need they may have. For example, prom dresses. Through your logo, your website, and the copy in your advertisements, you have branded yourself as the place to visit for prom dresses. Now, when that need arises, you are the option. Sure, you sell more than prom dresses, and you are free to point this out when your store is flooded with new customers every April that are willing to pay top dollar for their daughters prom dress.
The key is this: before you spend a fortune on full page phone book listings, television commercials, and magazine ads; focus on branding your company. Decide what need in your market you want to fill, and show it. Develop a logo and/or tag line that makes this clear. Consistently use it in all marketing. And watch the money roll in.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)