How to Create a Brand Image
A Brand Image is how your company appears to its customers. It can be described as the company’s personality that you want your customers to perceive. You need to know what kind of image you want your company to have because it will impact how people react to your business and how likely they will buy from it. Creating a brand image or message begins with understanding who you are and why, plus knowing what makes you different from other companies in the industry. According to Dr. Jordan Sudberg, the image you create should not just be created for yourself but for the greater good of your company. The idea you want to project will be uppermost in how others perceive your company and how it will influence their decisions on where to spend their money Sudberg also said that it is also recommended that you consider what your target audience will be looking for in deciding to either buy from you or not. Dr. Sudberg advises you to maintain a consistent image or personality. You might think of it as the same person in every encounter with your customers, from the first meeting to providing merchandise, customer service, and the final sale.
How to Create a Brand Image
■ Concealing Mistakes
Mistakes are inevitable in business life. It is vital to ensure that when mistakes are made, they are not exposed in a way that will damage your brand image and make it seem like you didn’t care about the errors at all. If you have the support of your employees, then mistakes can be laughed off and not made a big deal of. However, if this strategy is not possible, try to work on finding out what went wrong and correcting it as soon as possible.
■ Advertising Your Customer Service – Your customers will most likely go out of their way to find a business with good customer service. Even if they are going to buy from another company or products, they are also going to remember how you handled the situation. To ensure that you are perceived as having good customer service, the best thing you can do is make sure that you advertise it frequently and loudly. Your advertising message should include your policy regarding refunds and returns, along with any information on how to get in touch with a customer representative should there be something wrong with your product or service.
■ Understanding Your Customer’s Needs – While it is vital to understand that your priority should be your customers, you must also understand what your customers want. If you wish to maintain and grow your business, you must know as many details about what will work for them. It will allow you to present a well-rounded package that makes sense for everyone involved. Dr. Jordan Sudberg thinks that it is also a good idea to keep in mind that there are going to be times when you will have competitors trying their best to get your customers away from you by presenting themselves as having better products or services than you do.