“A brand is a contract and a contract is to be respected. Don’t compromize.”
We all know brands and companies that have become household brands/names. To build a brand to is to have an inherent value that customers and clients in general have in common with your value proposition and in that case something they wouldn’t want to go without. The question is how to get these people hooked on your product to an extent that they don’t want to let go. This is an important question to ask because if you do, you’ll have loyal customers and free marketers doing your bidding for you. This applies to large, medium sized and small companies including freelance consultants.
Over the past week, I have been reading a compilation of advice from 22 marketers all over the world under the collection, Build Brilliant Brands that was developed by Facebook. It is an amazing book with nuggets of wisdom on marketing, brand development and overall business management anchored on values. On the backdrop of this, I have been keen to look into a couple of companies whose representatives contributed to the book in line with my experience with them and the overarching narrative about them. I’d say they have done an amazing job at it. Anchored on this, I reflected on the couple of organizations, companies and outfits that I have come across in my lifetime who happen to either go through a tough time or rather are struggling and I realized there is a common thread. There’s either little value or contribution to the perceived/target market or their brand promise do not match their product value. If I’m going to sell you an application capable of sorting your folders based on a particular criteria and you sign up on that, at the very least it should be able to do that with the accuracy sold to you in the promise. If it falls short, there is lost trust and in business, trust leads to relationships which are sales and profits.
It’s on this account that I believe it’s important to commit to deliver on your brand promise and in case you can’t be open about it. Additionally, in case of shortcomings in your way be upfront to let your clients know you are working on it to ensure they can continue using your product or service. In case you were to deliver on a project for a client, ensure you do it on time within the specifications agreed upon. Falling short of your promise is a brand failure and this can lead to a downward trend for your in general. It’s simple, match your promise to the product or service you deliver. Otherwise, you’ll have failed in entirety.
So this past weekend, I had a challenge with one of the telecommunication companies whose network coverage was getting floppy. As a client, I decided to take it upon myself to call in and inquire. To my surprise the same challenge had been noted but there was no communication to clients at all. In the overall discussion with the customer care agent, he kept pushing back that I just wait for up to 2hrs as they work on reestablishing connection. It was an understandable ask but why not communicate to your clients? Should all clients call in to be given the same response while you put forth a front of being a reliable and caring service provider? Maybe not. Definitely, if I was to leave this is reason enough to but I decided to lodge a complain and advice them to act right the next time. It’s standard human decency to let one know you might not deliver on a promise at one point but is keen on ensuring that’s done. It shows you care and most importantly, that you are committed to excellence in delivering quality as a business.
“Brand is the promise, the big idea, the expectations that reside in each customers mind about a product, service, or company. Branding is about making an emotional connection while fulfilling the promise.” – Alina Wheeler