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THE BRANDING ISSUE
PERCEPTION IS REALITY . IT ’ S AS TRUE IN BUSINESS AS IT IS IN LIFE . AND WHEN YOU ’ RE IN THE BUSINESS OF ELECTRICAL CONTRACTING , THAT PERCEPTION IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT .
I t may be that the quality of the work you do is the ultimate source of proof , but unless you ’ re given the opportunity to do the job in the first place then no one will ever know about it . So , this issue is all about how you can create the right brand for your business – how you can change , fine-tune or completely overhaul what you ’ re doing now to help you ultimately get more business .
First things first , it ’ s important people find you in the first place . While many customers are regulars , others will be looking for someone new – either because they ’ ve not needed a contractor for a while , their previous one moved away , they ’ re conducting a tender process or they ’ re new to the area .
And regardless of the scenario , you need to be at the forefront of people ’ s minds .
Brand recognition is important , and can be etched onto people ’ s minds sub-conciously , weeks , months or even years before they need you . This , of course , comes in the form of your brand name , the logo you have , your colour scheme and the vehicles you ’ re driving .
If you ’ ve got a name that stands out and a logo that ’ s memorable – and your vehicles scream ‘ success ’ rather than ‘ struggling ’ – then you ’ re likely to be logged in the memory bank for the right reasons .
Of course , there ’ s no ‘ silver bullet ’ when it comes to this sort of stuff , rather a compounding effect across a number of different , syncronised activities .
Because if you ’ ve achieved some level of brand recognition , then people will pause when they see you online . They ’ ll like your social media pages so they remember who you are – and so they can find you again .
And if your social pages are providing useful , interesting and entertaining content – from jobs you ’ ve done to satisfied customer stories , new products to ‘ on the job life ’, then you ’ re building a level of trust and familiarity with potential customers each and every day .
Of course , your website has to be up to scratch too – but the good news is that it doesn ’ t need thousands of dollars to make an impact . A purposeful structure and making sure you include the ‘ essentials ’ will go an awful long way .
You can reach new customers through targeted marketing and advertising , too , but this is one area where you can really throw a hell of a lot of money away if you don ’ t have the right strategy , so being well-planned and analytical about where your money ’ s going and the results you ’ re getting from each channel is of paramount importance .
And finally , how do you ‘ show up ’? What is the impression you ’ re giving a new client or customer when you turn up to quote on that big job or do a small repair ? Are your uniforms screaming ‘ PRO !’? And , while we ’ re all for expressing individualism , what impression does your hair , your piercings and your tatts really convey ?
So , for this issue – our Branding Issue – we ’ ve brought in a whole host of experts to give us the lowdown on everything you need to do to create a meaningful brand that will really make an impact – and create the right impression .
There ’ s a mountain of gold nuggets in the pages that follow , and of course it would be unrealistic to expect you to do all of them straight away .
But if you can just find a couple of things that inspire you to do something a little differently , that can make a positive impact in the coming weeks and months , the time you spend reading this issue will be time well spent !
We ’ d love to hear about the things you find useful over the following pages – and the lessons you ’ ve learnt over the years you ’ ve had in business .
Remember , your brand is the foundation upon which your business is built . And having a strong solid brand in place can really lift your business to new and great heights . n
OCT – NOV 2021 GEMCELL . COM . AU 7