As business owners we can tend to fall into a big trap when we assume our customers will accept our word that our service is excellent and better than every body else’s.
The whole area of brand perception really needs to be understood better these days.
You see just because you say it doesn’t mean I (as the customer) will believe it. I need to try it out before I will take your word for it.
Why? Simple, because I along with every other customer or consumer out there have been feed the whole “we look after our customers” line so many times that we just don’t believe it any more.
What a lot of businesses do is they make the mistake in assuming that they can change someone’s perception by using fancy marketing ploys.
You see my perception of your service and your business will become fact in my head. If you say you care about me in your advertising and I then experience the opposite, then all of that money spent on attracting me to your business has gone down the drain.
This is why it is so important why the owners or the managers of the business need to ensure they have their fingers on the customers pulse and not on what they want the customer to believe.
You need to make sure you see what the customer sees and experience what the customer experiences.
When was the last time you had a real hard and thorough look at how your staff are servicing your customers or clients and what the reaction of that service is from your customer’s perspective?
Too many times we just assume everything is going well if we don’t get any negative feedback from the customer. But the customer has choice these days in taking their business elsewhere so most of the time you won’t even hear about a complaint as the customer will just leave and say nothing.
The best way you can change your business to be in line with what your customers want is to listen to them. It costs you nothing!
You need to understand what the perception of your business is in your customer’s eyes, or you will constantly miss the mark with them. You will spend a lot of wasted time and money on nothing.
So what do you think you have to work on in your business?
Are you too busy trying to get your customers to accept your brand of service as the way it is going to be, or are you open to listening to their perceptions of what they actually experience?
Because don’t forget, the customer’s perception is now fact to them. It is your job to change their perception if it is a bad one to one that is now positive.
The only way you can do that is by understanding why they have the perception that they do.
Let me explain. If your brand is all about vibrant, fun and class but the experience the client actually gets is rushed, disconnected and impersonal, then your brand is perceived as incorrect from the client’s perspective hence solidifying that in their heads.
That is why it is super important to constantly do a brand stock take to make sure what you are telling everyone you are is exactly what they receive. This can be done quite easily but make sure you look at all aspects and facets of your business. Your staff would be the greatest brand builders you have going for you but also can destroy your brand perception if something goes wrong.
Do your staff know exactly what your brand stands for?
Are they adding to the brands perception in a positive way every day with every client?
Just remember… The better the experience….. The better the referrals by your clients.
