Whether you wake up one morning from a particularly inspiring dream about your company’s new image, or you spend considerable time and money to build a particular corporate brand, it’s all pretty irrelevant if the image doesn’t fit the reality of the experience.
Even Dr Phil says there is no reality, only perception. If you are working hard at creating a particular market perception of your business, you had better make sure reality isn’t far behind or you could waste considerable effort attracting the wrong customers or, more importantly, miss out on clientele looking for what you have to offer.
I had a situation two months ago where I wished to contract the services of a photographer for a corporate photo shoot. I was in a regional area at the time and, with no local contacts, did my research in both the local media and on the internet. One particular photographer stood out in both mediums with polished advertising, well-honed marketing messages, and a professional website to demonstrate capabilities. I short listed his contact details along with three others to compare quotes.
From the moment I made contact, a very important event occurred. My perception of this particular photographer changed during one phone call. The studio was actually a garage, he was available after hours because his photography business was not his day job, and his price was so cheap he would give any shopping-centre setup a run for their money. During our discussion he apologised several times for his premises and told me that even though he was cheap he considered himself the best portrait photographer in the region.
My point here is not that this photographer could not do the job required. He did in fact complete the job to the client’s satisfaction, but the perception he painted of his company was far from reality and it may even be enough to turn some customers off from using the service. A smart option in this case may be to make the ads and website a little less glitzy, and focus on the cost-saving benefits of his business model. An advertisement announcing ‘top-quality photography at a cost-effective price’ may attract more of the right customers who are seeking professional photography at a lower price. If his goal is to one day have the type of business he already advertises, more customers in the interim will ensure that goal is achieved even faster.
Ask yourself these questions:
• Do my marketing messages reflect what I really offer? Is the image of my company attractive to my target audience or do I need an identity makeover?
• Is my pricing policy right for the level of service I portray? Am I charging too little or too much?
• How much new business am I losing because I don’t effectively communicate what I do well?
• Do I make apologies because I am not what I advertise?
It’s all well and good to ‘fake it till you make it’, but if perception and reality are universes apart, you could be doing yourself more of a disservice than you realise.
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