Creating a marketable, successful brand begins with a simple idea. What is the idea behind the brand and how can that point be expressed in the most effective manner? A brand is a catchphrase, a memorable name and a confidence in purchasing products with ease.
According to Fast Casual, the four most important parts of building a brand include clarity, understanding, leadership and teaching. These four pieces play intricate roles in the training and expertise of the business sales force. At the end of the day, the employees who are inside the stores and behind the phone lines and computer screens are the real brand. Are your employees representing you to the best of their ability?
“Get started by just getting started and jump in and have confidence and that confidence will grow along the way. You need to engage the employees from the very start as they are the key drivers to success as their commitment to the culture rolls down to customers,” said Louis Basile, founder and president of the Wildflower Bread Company during a Fast Casual branding panel.
A strong brand begins in the office, but how can you ensure that the message is not diluted?
Ignite passion from the start
As noted in a recent survey conducted by Needle, an ecommerce leader, clients desire to interact with someone who completely understands the product or the brand message. This real understanding can often only be completed with passion. Educate employees on the importance of their role within the brand and how they contribute to overall success.
Be consistent
According to Jake Athey, writing for Widen.com, brand consistency is vital. “Brand consistency ensures that people come to know a brand by one name or ‘face’ and are thus more likely to remember it when it comes time to buy products in the brand’s category.” If you are not consistent, you may confuse customers or portray the wrong message.
One internal practice that will help you present your brand in the best light is consistent presentations. If analysts are always creating new presentation skeletons, the formatting will eventually derail. A clean template each time serves as a headquarters for salespeople. Presentation templates that look the same across the board allow in-the-field salespeople to direct their undivided attention to the data instead of agonizing over copy and pasting and formatting.
Completely avoid the issue of diluting the company brand by implementing Standardized Customization. Standardized Customization is a practice that gives you the flexibility to make the right pitch to the right customer. This way, the customer has the necessary information and enough structure to form a complete understanding of the brand.
XP3 is a great tool for upholding a brand. The software brings more focus to insight by eliminating the need to spend time on refreshing data pulls and copying into individual presentations.
