So let’s start at a common misconception. A brand is not your logo. A logo is part of your brand but your brand is much more. Your brand is the summation of every experience, every touch point your prospects and customers have with your company. That experience and those touch points are a direct reflection of your company’s personality, the way and manner in which you engage in business. Your brand comprises the nature of your interactions inside and outside the walls of your business. So just how does your brand play a role in customer preference?
People make purchase decisions for logical reasons, they need a project designed or they need a designed project built. But they also make decisions for emotional reasons - they feel their chosen vendor understands their needs, has the experience to do the job, will listen to their concerns, will see the project through no matter what happens in the process. This combination of logical and emotional reasoning reflects how customers perceive your brand.
How often have you heard a colleague complain that a project went to a much less experienced firm? In the decision making process, the customer obviously valued the emotional components of the winner’s brand more than the logical. In the construction industry in general, the tendency is to present just the logical facts. We can do this, have done this, have these certifications, have won these awards and so on. All of this is valuable information but if that is where your brand stops, can you see how our example of the less experienced firm won the job?
By embracing the authentic logical and emotional components of the experience you provide your customers and prospects, you provide them with a complete picture of who you are as a company. A well-designed brand can be fully understood by your target audiences. When they understand your brand fully, customer preference can be developed.
Preference results from demonstrating your brand in every customer touch point. Is your web site brand consistent? How about the responsiveness of your sales staff? Front office? Is the back office living your brand? When you’re in the course of a project, are you operating with brand consistency? Real world experiences are measured by your prospects and customers against the brand you present. How does your company align?
To be successful creating customer preference your brand must be lived and lived well by you and everyone under your brand umbrella. Where do you start? You define it well, you communicate it well, and you hold yourself and every one your staff accountable to it. There are fabulous agencies who can help you develop your brand. Don’t let your tendency to the logical keep you from marrying the logical with the emotional so you can fully express your brand and begin creating and sustaining customer preference.
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