November Feature-

Managing your Business Image  

By:  Keith T. Chiles, MBA

A requested expansion of an earlier article.

    Defining your company image is one of the most important, and often ignored management tasks. The image a company projects plays an important role in defining its customers. Image is the way customers or suppliers perceive your company.   It is made up of the beliefs, ideas, and impressions a person holds about a product, service, or company.

   People often start businesses when they see an important niche. When this happens, the image of the company is defined by the personality of the founder. The most common categories are to provide quality products or services, friendly service, fast service, or prestige.

When image is defined by the personality of the founder, the company is often subject to what I call the quarter-half-quarter rule. This means a quarter of the potential customers will have the same personality style and identify with the new business and become loyal customers. Half of the market will be in an adjacent style and may be a customer, without loyalty. The last quarter of the market will have opposing Values and will avoid the company.

Large companies take a different approach to developing their image. They use studies to define their potential market and customers. The marketing people determine the demographics of their market, which is simply a description of a group of ideal customers. When customers are placed in a group, their shopping patterns and expectations are defined and predicted. The marketing department then establishes an image statement and builds the advertising to create that image in the minds of the consumers.

Let’s look at some image describing or perpetuating actions. These are usually the description a customer uses when referring a friend. Customers are very good at emotionally reverse engineering the image of a company and conveying your true image to their friends and acquaintances.

Examples of good image descriptions are: “The product I bought has lasted a long time--they may cost a little more, but they sure are worth it—I was in a hurry and they got the job done really fast—I like to spend time shopping there because the people there are so friendly—I go there because all the cool and important people are there.”

These examples of image promotion by customers tell a lot about how the business is projecting itself. Regardless of management intentions, the perception of customers is the true image.  A company image usually ends up in the minds of the customer with only one or two word description such as: friendly, confident, efficient, etc.

Many specific professions must project an image that is expected by their customers or clients.  Doctors, lawyers, and various consultants are expected to have an image of knowledge, authority, and confidence in their interactions with their clients.  Most retail stores are expected to be friendly and helpful.  Distributors are expected to be fast and ready to solve problems.

The steps for image management are:

1. Baseline your current image.

2. Determine your desired image.

3. Create your image.

4. Protect your image.

5. Measure your image.

STEP 1-BASELINE YOUR CURRENT IMAGE

So where do we start this process?  We start by measuring the current image if the business is already established.  If we are dealing with a new company, then we can move on to the section titled Establishing the Desired Image. Measuring the current image of the company is normally part of the marketing function, but it can be done by anyone. 

One word of caution is in order for here: It is best to have an outside consultant work with the company to determine the current image.  This is because customers are generally not willing to say negative things about a company directly to the owner or manager, which creates a false level of positive feedback.  This is where a consultant can be very helpful.  A consultant is a third-party who asks customers or clients about your image.  When the business owner attempts to survey his customers, there is also the potential of driving away business, because some customers may give an honest and negative response and not wish to return and encounter you again.

If you attempt to establish your image on your own, the best place to start is with your complaining customers or those who are not friendly.  These people tend to provide a more honest answer and may be less afraid of offending you.  Ask them to give you two words that describe your place of business and to be as honest as they can in order to provide you with valuable information.

Resist the natural tendency to guide your customer into by not telling them very much.  Explain that you are attempting to baseline your company image and it is important that they give an honest impression of the experience of doing business with you in two or three words.  Write them down and thank the person regardless of how bad you might feel about their response. 

After you or your consultant has determined the image you currently carry with your customers, examine the results and consider whether or not your image is what you expected it to be.  Don’t be surprised to learn that some people consider you or your company to be different that what you seek.  That is not unusual.  There is a natural tendency to reject the results of the survey, but that would be a serious mistake as it leaves you not really knowing you image baseline. 

STEP 2-DETERMINE YOUR DESIRED IMAGE

   The next step in managing your image is to determine the image you wish to project to the public and the business world.  I find the best way to accomplish this is to first define the Core Values for your business.  Core Values are those terms you want to hear reflected back from the customers you attract and retain.  The Core Values are used as guides in making many of the tough business decisions.  They are some of the reasons why your customers select your business instead of your competitor.  Begin my making a list of the five to eight Core Values that you endorse as a businessperson and be prepared to spend a little time doing this.  Examples of Core Values are: Integrity, friendliness, satisfied customers, leading edge technologies, being profitable, etc.

   Be very careful in the selection of your Core Values to assure you are willing to live by those Values.  Many people make up a series of words that reflect their desired business image and find themselves in conflict with those values during their daily business operations.  I have seen many companies list integrity as a Core Value and then defied that value by doing things that customers felt had demonstrated a lack of integrity.  The selection of Core Values is another process that is best done with the help of a Strategic Planning consulting who can guide the businessperson through the process.

   After you have established your Core Values it is important to live with them for about a week and give them quite a lot of thought.  Are these really values you are willing to live by?  Are you really willing to build your business and live your life around these values?  Think about what you will do when two of the values are in conflict.  Suppose you have selected a Core Value of Honesty and you are in a position with a customer where telling a lie will appease the customer while the truth could make the customer more irate.  Are you still willing to maintain your Honesty and tell the truth knowing it will inflame the situation?  If so, then it should be retained as a Core Value.  Think about all of your Core Values in that manner.

   After you have created your list of Core Values it is time to define them so they cannot be changed to fit future circumstances.  I recommend that my clients prepare a simple paragraph for each Core Value that explains the belief behind that value.  Here is an example from the Core Values of my own consulting practice.

“Honesty – I will be honest with my clients in all dealings.  My Clients can expect an accurate posting of hours worked for that Client, the Client can expect an accurate assessment of their business situation even if it means loosing their business, the Client can expect my promises to be my word and will be kept regardless of the cost to myself.”

STEP 3-CREATE YOUR IMAGE

You have already begun to establish your image by adopting your Core Values.  The difficult part of the process is to learn to live them without any variance.  I have my Clients print their Core Values on a piece of paper and keep those values in front of them at all times for about a month.  The purpose is to make sure they can live those values and to quietly demonstrate their values to their customers.  Core Values that are not lived are simply worthless.

Most people will know if they can live with their Core Values after living with them for a month.  If a person is comfortable with their values, I will recommend they post their values where the employees and customers can see them.  Make the values a pivotal component of your business so people will come to expect to be treated in a manner consistent with those values.  You should instill those values into your employees and make sure they fully understand what you and your business stand for.  Failing to live by your own Core Values will cause them to become diluted and meaningless.  This means that you are in control of your image.

This image can be communicated through various marketing methods, but I do not recommend advertising any of the Core Values of a company.  Advertising that includes Core Values tends to dilute the impact of the message created by living those values.  Advertising tends to add an artificial element to your values.

The most effective way to advertise your image is to be guided by your Core Values in an honest and straightforward manner.  This helps the company to appear proud of itself and expressing the pride will help to convey the values. 

A very effective way to portray your image is through an evaluation of your everyday activities.  Is your place of business clean, neat, and well organized?  Are you proud of the appearance of your vehicles?  Is your storeroom as neat and clean as your customer areas?  These are all issues that affect your image in the eyes of the customer and are often things the business owner is not able to see as they are too close to the business.  I recommend an annual evaluation (checkup) by a consultant who can make recommendations for improvement.

STEP 4-PROTECT YOUR IMAGE

   Many companies fail to live by their Core Values when they are in conflict.  This causes a negative backlash and the appearance of being dishonest.  Imagine the confusion if you establish a Core Value of being honest and a customer catches you in a lie!  Imagine the confusion that would result if you establish a Core Value of providing friendly service and then become angry with a customer who tests your values!  The best way to maintain your image is to live your Core values.

It is confounding for management when striving to create an image of being a warm and friendly company only to learn that customers perceive them as cold and insensitive. This may happen when people engage in image damaging behaviors that are either unknown or unrecognized by management. Let me give some advice based on some of my observations.

Behave professionally at all times. Employees sometimes make remarks to each other or to customers about other customers. This makes customers wonder what is being said about them after they leave.  I have also seen managers discipline employees in front of a customer just to look important. Don’t! Never loose your temper or speak poorly about, or to, anyone in the presence of a customer.

Set standards and monitor the behavior of any employee who wears clothing or operates equipment with your company name on the items. Many people avoid a business because of the appearance of their vehicles. Some companies operate vehicles that look as if they should be condemned.  Vehicles are rolling advertisements for your company and should be treated as such. If those vehicles are not sending out a good image to your customers, then what image do they send?

Many people will avoid a business because of the bad driving habits of employees in company vehicles. Many years ago a trucking company lost the business of a major corporation, because a driver made a rude gesture to a motorist who was the vice president of his own company’s largest customer. Courteous driving can be very profitable.

Be careful of how and where you advertise or mix.  Make sure the events you attend to mix with business people are consistent with the image you wish to portray.  Many business professionals will avoid advertising in “low end” consumer publications or becoming involved in theme types of business mixers.

Don’t let employees wear uniforms when not working unless they are going strait home.  Make sure employees understand that wearing clothing with the company logo requires them to behave.  A person drinking in a bar or engaging in an argument in a store is very bad if they are wearing your company logo.

STEP 5-MEASURE YOUR IMAGE

It is time to measure your image progress after a year of living with your image program.  Most business owners report they look back over the year and feel they have better business and customer relationships after implementing their program.  It is satisfying to see the effects of the image program, but this is an effort that will take time to bear fruit.  Image improves slowly and over time, but a good image can be ruined very quickly.

This is another task that may be best left to an outside consultant who can give your business a periodic checkup and interview a few customers.  The owner or manager of the business can rarely measure this in an accurate manner.  Think about the image you project in your business and the impression it leaves on your customers. After all, image is everything.

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