In our personal lives, we all wear many hats. In my life, there are many people who if asked who I was would be able to say whose mother I am, but not give my name. Parents of kids in my son’s class, parents of kids my son played soccer with, parents of … well you get the picture. They know my son slightly but have never gotten around to learning my name.
There are other people who know me from contra dancing. They may not know my name (or have me confused with my best friend who looks more like my sister than my real sister) but know I’m the woman with the big stupid grin who will dance until her feet fall off.
There are the ladies in my Pilates class who know me as the quiet one in the corner who can occasionally come up with a real zinger when we’re cracking jokes.
All of these people only know a part of me. They don’t see the whole picture. And if they ever run into me out of context – a parent seeing me at a contra dance – they might be surprised, or not even recognize me.
People having different images of you – these different “brands” – are perfectly normal in your personal life. People who only know you peripherally naturally won’t see the big picture and therefore don’t know the real you.
However, having different perceptions of the professional you can be deadly. It doesn’t matter when or how a customer comes into contact with your business, the message they receive must be consistent in order for them to trust you. It’s not just about your logo and the colours you use. It’s also the experience customers have. If the different ways people come in contact with your business give inconsistent impressions, your business brand will suffer.
Let me give you an example of how this works in real life.
I know a man who owns a make-your-own wine business. Customers go in, purchase materials, then he and his staff actually prepare and age the wine for them. When it’s ready, customers go in and bottle the finished wine and take it home. All for significantly lower prices than purchasing it at the wine store.
However, this particular business actually charges quite a bit more than other similar stores in town and yet it is doing a booming business. Why? Because he has branded his business as a high quality alternative to the wine store, not a cheap way to make booze.
His entire brand is about quality. While he focuses on top quality materials that cost more but create a better wine, that’s not the entire picture of his brand. Every time a customer comes into contact with the business they have a quality and pleasurable experience.
The location of his store is in a more central, attractive location than the other stores (which are in industrial areas). The store front and signage are attractive and professional. When you walk in the store is carpeted and everything is clean, comfortable and almost luxurious. There is attractive, soft seating for customers to enjoy while they flip through books choosing their grapes and other materials. There’s a large flat screen tv running professional quality videos about wine and beer making.
The staff is courteous, knowledgeable and tidy. Everything is spotlessly clean. They even produce custom wine labels for customers to add to their wine bottles. All these elements combine to create a consistent image of the business. That is his brand. As a result, customers don’t mind paying more for a more pleasurable experience.
What if he wasn’t consistent?
What would happen if everything was the same, but the inside of the store was more cheaply decorated? Cheap, plastic chairs and concrete floors instead of carpeting and soft seating? Would customers be as happy to pay more? I suspect not. If the experience in the store was not one of quality, customers might begin to question the entire brand. They may begin wondering if the materials they were buying were really of superior quality.
If you are branding yourself as the high quality alternative, everything about your business must be of higher quality. If you charge more because your products or services are better than your competitors but you print your business cards yourself on those perforated sheets you can buy at Staples you are giving an inconsistent message. Customers may not even be consciously aware of it, but they will begin to doubt what you say about your business.
Likewise, if you say you provide faster service than your competitors, you’d better be faster everywhere. If you customers are kept on hold for ten minutes or you take two days to return emails, your customers’ experience with your business won’t be consistent with the message you are trying to send. And if your message is inconsistent, you are weakening your brand.
My friend graphic designer Jennifer Harris says, “Your brand isn’t what you say it is. It’s what your customers say it is.” If you want to have control over what your customers say about your brand, make sure you are consistent with the message you send.
Andrea J. Stenberg
Have you had experience with a business that says they’re about one thing but everything else they do says something else? Or do you know someone who is doing it right? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts about branding.
