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Create
an Identity for Your Business
You know exactly what your company is, what it stands
for, what it offers to its target audience and what it hopes to accomplish.
But is that really your company? Not really. In reality, your company is
the marketing that people see. It’s the big things, such as your web site
and your features and benefits But it’s also a combination of, seemingly,
minor details -- all anything but minor. Your company is the way your telephone
is answered. It’s the way you listen to customers and prospects. It’s your
ability to render superlative service. It’s every letter you send. It’s
every phone call you make and every person you employ.
There is an enormous difference between reality
and perception. You know in your heart the reality of your company, but
chances are that your prospects and customers perceive you, not by that
reality but by the attitude and professionalism of your marketing. Their
perception of your company counts for every bit as much as the reality
of your company.
Your company is your involvement with the community,
your willingness to provide speed and convenience in all your transactions.
It’s the regularity of your follow-up, the experience of other customers
you’ve had, even the way you greet your prospects and customers.
One of your primary jobs is to make certain that
the perception of your company matches the reality. You’ve got to realize
that your long-time customers may know exactly what your company is all
about but your prospects only know you by your marketing -- or lack of
it.
Your web site, along with your other marketing,
must convey your company identity because more and more people every day
will be learning of your company online and not offline. To them, you
are your web site.
Your ability to tailor your offerings and service
to the needs of your customers is your company. The quality of information
you provide and the generosity with which you provide it -- those also
are your company.
Your newsletter and brochures, your fliers and
promotions -- they are your company. Today, more than ever, you can craft
your marketing to reflect exactly what your company is. You can use your
computer and a wide array of software to create dynamic marketing materials
to communicate that your company is professional, caring and unique and
covers all the bases. You can use customer questionnaires to learn about
your customers so that you get a good bead on their perceptions of you,
both good and bad. The information they provide shines a beacon on their
opinions of you, allowing you to make the necessary changes to match their
perceptions with the perceptions you want them to have.
Your company is the sum total of what it truly
is -- combined with the marketing you put out to the world -- or the marketing
you do not practice. That’s why active and aggressive marketing is the
hallmark of successful companies. That’s why they measure their marketing,
to be certain it is hitting home and communicating the actuality of their
firms.
Most owners of small businesses focus upon their
company far more than they focus upon their marketing. The two should
be inseparable. And the vast majority of the world, who are not yet your
customers, know you only by your marketing. If it comes up short or isn’t
noticed by them, it makes no difference how superlative your quality and
dedication may be.
Never forget, one of the tiniest groups of people
on the planet are your customers. They know your company by what it really
is. But, the billions of people who have never purchased from you -- they
know your company only by your marketing efforts.
Guerrilla marketers pay as much close attention
to their marketing as they do to their business. They do not delude themselves
into thinking everybody knows about their excellence. Instead, they put
out the word and continue spreading it, making certain that it accurately
reflects their company. We’ve all had experiences when we were shocked
to learn that a company was drastically different from its marketing.
Never let that happen to your company. It never will when you always remember,
that your company is two things at all times: what it really is and what
people think it is, based upon your marketing.
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