One question that every small business owner who wants to compete will need to ask is:  How is my Brand positioned in the mind of potential clients in my local market?  You must understand that you WILL have a position in the mind of your potential customers who come in contact with your brand.  It’s important to realize this is about “perception” rather than “reality.”  Once assumptions are made, you will have to work very hard to change them.  You cannot choose IF you want to build a brand; only WHAT KIND of brand you will build.

Here are some examples:

  • A restaurant is known as either the lunch place or the dinner place.
  • A contractor is almost inevitably either the quality guy or the guy with lowest prices.
  • A retail establishment either offers the lowest prices or greatest service.

The mindset is of utmost importance.  Perhaps you personally strive to offer great service, but in your customers’ minds you are positioned as the low cost provider.  You might raise prices expecting your excellent service to overcome the rate increases.  However, your customers are not coming to you for great service; they are coming for great prices.  So your business will quickly go downhill if there’s a price increase.

Conversely, you may pride yourself on low prices and don’t realize that in the mind of your customers your personalized service is your brand.   Because of this misunderstanding, you might reduce your payroll expenses and provide a lower level of service in order to lower your prices.  You would expect this action to drive business, but the opposite would be true because your clients are not coming for low prices but for great service.  They don’t even appreciate the lower rates!

Here are a few tips for positioning your brand in the mind of your target market:

  • Decide what you want your clients to think of every time they hear the name of your business.  Make a list of words that should come to their minds, such as “Quality,” “Low Prices,” “Service,” “Professionalism,” “Prompt Delivery,” “Quickest Response Time.”  There are many, many more, but you should keep your list very short.  Don’t try to put more than three words into the mind of your prospective client.
  • Conform everything you do to your desired brand position.  Have you ever wondered how on earth Walmart is so successful in retail while offering such terrible service?  Seriously, their service is not good at all, and they know it!  Their brand is all about the cheapest price and the largest selection.  They have sacrificed a great deal to have that position in the minds of their customers, and they have succeeded.  When someone wonders where to find a particular product or who will probably have the cheapest price on that product, Walmart is positioned in their mind at this intersection.  Although you are not a Walmart, you will also need to give up some things in order to focus your brand.  Some restaurants may not even serve dinner or breakfast because they are so dedicated to being the place to eat lunch.  Small auto repair shops may pay a lot of money in overtime because they are dedicated to the fastest turn around times. When they get swamped, their people know that extra hours are required in order to maintain this position in the minds of their customers.  Retail businesses may not carry certain products even if they know these items would sell; their brand image as the only retail shop in the area who specializes in one type of product would be damaged.  These are all examples of business owners giving up certain revenue streams in order to maximize their brand image and grow their business intentionally.
  •  Communicate your new brand position to your customers in every way possible.  Are you building a new website?  Your web designer had better understand your brand image, and your site should be designed specifically around that image.  Are you ordering business cards or taking out a yellow page ad?  These items should look like the words you wrote on your list earlier.  If you are the low cost provider, don’t get a glossy expensive business card.  If your business is “the place to eat lunch,” your yellow page ad should say that.  Your specials should be geared towards driving traffic at lunch time.

I have given you a lot of specific examples in this article, but keep in mind that these may or may not apply to your business.  There are restaurants, for instance, who serve breakfast, lunch and dinner who are focused on building a brand image as “the restaurant that serves food whenever you want to eat.”  In that case, they should probably open early and close late.  The important thing is to identify how you want your company positioned in the minds of your customers, and then relentlessly drive towards achieving that position in everything you do!

If you would like to schedule a consulting call with me or one of our team members to discuss your local brand, please contact us for more information.  Also, if you like what you have read here, please take a moment to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter in the sidebar.

James Shepherd

 

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