Having a brand removes the uncertainty from the buying process – the more certainty surrounding a purchase the less the resistance will be to making it. Conversely, the more uncertainty surrounding a buying decision, the higher the levels of resistance that will have to be overcome in order for the purchase to be completed.
Branding makes the invisible more visible; the intangible more tangible and the uncertain more certain. All a brand essentially does is allow us to make emotional or instinctive decisions based on perceptions of quality, value and service represented by the Brand such that we don’t need to logically justify the emotional decisions we make. IBM famously used the advertising slogan – “no one gets fired for buying IBM...”
If in doubt and in the absence of other information we will tend to be attracted to a recognised brand rather than take the “risk” buying something that is unknown to us and or potentially of lower quality, reliability or levels of consistency. I have used the example of McDonalds for demonstration purposes in the image, but the same concept can be applied to Hilton, The Wynn Las Vegas, Gucci or BMW.
Rule # 1 – consistent, predictable and branded mediocrity will beat occasional uncertain excellence.
In the absence of a recognised brand, buyers will tend to be more cautious – looking for evidence to support their buying process. In the medium size business sector we are not in the business of building a brand – we are in the business of building reputation and it is the transmission and perception of our reputation that attracts prospective clients to us whilst the consistent delivery of experiences that exceed expectations, keeps customers returning to us on a regular basis.
Remember that we have to replace the power of a brand; we are selling what is essentially an invisible, intangible service (at least until it is experienced for the first time...) and we have a number of strategies available that will enable us to achieve this.
Rule # 2 – in the absence of a Brand – other evidence is needed in order to make a buying decision.
In his book “Influence” Dr Robert Cialdini explains the Psychology of getting customers to say “yes” and proposes six keys of influence that conspire either with us or against us when we are marketing and presenting information about our services – this is where we can win when we come up against bigger or more easily recognised brands.
a. Reciprocation
i. Explanation – we are obliged to respond to the experiences we have. If I buy you a drink at the bar, you have a natural obligation to return the favour. This works in the positive and the negative, remember an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
ii. Application – people will spread the word about the experiences they have when they buy from us. A mediocre experience may not generate any feedback at all and a bad experience is likely to trigger a negative response of some sort, however, it usually takes an amazing experience to elicit a positive comment. It is the generation of these positive responses that must be our objective. We need to exceed the expectations of our clients, such that not only the service they receive, but the context in which it is provided, triggers a positive reciprocation of testimonials, referrals and reputation development.
b. Consistency
i. Explanation – people generally don’t want high levels of uncertainty or perceived risk when it comes to making a buying decision. They will look for signs of consistency and trust such that they have the belief that we not only deliver on our promises, but deliver on them consistently and predictably every time.
ii. Application – having systems in place that ensure excellence is the standard, is the surest way of achieving this. There are numerous ways that organisations have achieved this from the well known Franchise organisations to Zappos, Cirque Du Soleil, Ritz Carlton Group, Apple and Nordstroms.
c. Social Proof
i. Explanation - people will look to other independent people for opinions about our services. People like to have certainty when making any decision and a contributory factor to developing this certainty is what other people say about us.
ii. Application – testimonials and customer feedback is critical here, as is “collective evidence” or the power associated with being part of an organisation or group. If as the business owner you say something positive about your venue; it’s sales and marketing. If a client says something positive about your venue; it’s the truth – in the eyes of your prospects. Social Proof is how we can enable our prospects not only to emotionally engage with our business, making the invisible visible and the intangible tangible; but it limits the need for logic i.e. price comparisons and discount discussions to enter into the process.
Rule # 3 – People do not buy on price – unless we let them.
d. Authority
i. Explanation – we automatically trust those who either are or appear to be experts in their field. If someone who looks like a dentist prepares you for root canal treatment you believe that they know what they are doing; have you ever asked to see the qualifications or certificates that your Doctor or Dentist have..?
ii. Application – this is the first instance where the power of the group comes into force. Being associated with a recognised group or collective, automatically suggests that you have “qualified” to be included and are therefore better, of higher quality and standards than those who do not qualify to be part of the group. Maintaining high standards and having specific objectives towards excellence, that can be measured, will enable the power and perception of authority suggested by inclusion within the group or association to be kept high – membership is a privilege.
i. Explanation – we tend to buy from people we like and are like. The same goes for organisations, we will buy from them when they resonate with us and we like, not just the people within them but the Philosophy and Values that an organisation demonstrates.
ii. Application – being public with the Philosophy and Values of your organisation, letting people connect with your team with images and even video is a great way to build rapport with your clients even before they have bought. It is the degree of liking that will also determine the extent to which they come back and buy from you in the future. Training and passionate evangelical commitment to excellence, standards and the entire customer experience are key here.
f. Scarcity
i. Explanation – simply put we want what we can’t have, and attribute higher value to that which is scarce or appears to be scarce.
ii. Application – this again is where exclusivity and the power and perceived value of the group can be used to our advantage. It is unlikely that any of us can actually define what our market share or market penetration is in terms of the total UK market, and if we can our shares will be so low that they are almost meaningless. Let’s say you have 1% of the total Market for Venues and Conference events in the UK – you cannot possibly cope with all of it so by definition you are a niche player, customers are abundant and you are the scarce resource – providing of course you standards and performance are exceptional.
Being part of an exclusive group means that the standards and reputation that the group stands for are only available through members of that group – that in itself is highly attractive and establishes scarcity simply through membership and association with the group
Rule # 4 – A Quality Niche business must beat their more recognised branded competitors in terms of quality, service, uniqueness and consistency; gather together in groups and shout loud so that they don’t have to also beat them on price.
The Ultimate Question
Accepting that we need to overcome any potential resistance in the absence of strong branding – we clearly need to achieve our competitive advantage through service and quality differentiation and not price.
Holding ourselves accountable to the highest standards and measuring our performance against them whilst challenging is in reality the only option we have either individually or even more powerfully; as part of a powerful, strong and recognised collective or group.
Traditionally, customer feedback was based on subjective matters, scored over a range of 1 to 5 or based on comments and “feedback” even nominating individuals for praise. In reality and to truly get an objective measure of performance, accepting that clients buy emotionally, we need to assess their levels of emotional engagement with the service that we provide. Emotional purchases need emotional measures not logical ones, otherwise there is an incongruence in the process.
In the book “The Ultimate Question” Fred Riechheld defines a revolutionary system of engaging clients in an emotionally driven response process that simply requires them to answer a simple question.
“On a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 measn “not at all likely” and 10 means “extremely likely” how likely is it that you would recommend XXXXXXXX to a friend or colleague.
Whilst this sounds very simple it is the scoring method that forces us to raise the bar of quality, service and uniqueness. Under traditional conditions, when asking survey questions involving a scale of 1 to 10 we would have been satisfied with an average score of say 80% - on the face of it this looks good.
The Net Promoter Score is different, the scoring is heavily weighted such that it represents a very harsh and what may at first sight appear to be somewhat unfair.
The scoring system works like this;
Accepting that we need to overcome any potential resistance in the absence of strong branding – we clearly need to achieve our competitive advantage through service and quality differentiation and not price.
Holding ourselves accountable to the highest standards and measuring our performance against them whilst challenging is in reality the only option we have either individually or even more powerfully; as part of a powerful, strong and recognised collective or group.
Traditionally, customer feedback was based on subjective matters, scored over a range of 1 to 5 or based on comments and “feedback” even nominating individuals for praise. In reality and to truly get an objective measure of performance, accepting that clients buy emotionally, we need to assess their levels of emotional engagement with the service that we provide. Emotional purchases need emotional measures not logical ones, otherwise there is an incongruence in the process.
In the book “The Ultimate Question” Fred Riechheld defines a revolutionary system of engaging clients in an emotionally driven response process that simply requires them to answer a simple question.
“On a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 measn “not at all likely” and 10 means “extremely likely” how likely is it that you would recommend XXXXXXXX to a friend or colleague.
Whilst this sounds very simple it is the scoring method that forces us to raise the bar of quality, service and uniqueness. Under traditional conditions, when asking survey questions involving a scale of 1 to 10 we would have been satisfied with an average score of say 80% - on the face of it this looks good.
The Net Promoter Score is different, the scoring is heavily weighted such that it represents a very harsh and what may at first sight appear to be somewhat unfair.
The scoring system works like this;
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Scoring between 0 and 6 results in a score of -1 Scoring a 7 or 8 results in a score of 0 Scoring a 9 or 10 results in a score of +1 |
What this means that is that in order to achieve high scores under these conditions
we need to be truly excellent and deliver remarkable service on a consistent basis – this is a tough rule and holds us accountable to the highest of standards.
See Rule # 4 for the reason this is so important...
The benefits of this process are amplified when there is a group or association of companies that combine and compare scores under this system. Being part of the group allows best practice to be shared, standards and performance to be monitored, with collective targets for improvement being agreed between the members – the collective strength of the group is stronger than the strength of an individual.
The benefits of this process are amplified when there is a group or association of companies that combine and compare scores under this system. Being part of the group allows best practice to be shared, standards and performance to be monitored, with collective targets for improvement being agreed between the members – the collective strength of the group is stronger than the strength of an individual.
