Protect Your Brand

SalesManUp


Protect Your Brand


“ A good name is more desirable than great riches;
To be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”   - Proverbs 22:1 ( NIV)


How much is a name really worth ? What value does a good reputation have ?
Companies spend millions of dollars creating and protecting and marketing their brand.Your brand is your name. To build a good brand requires a lot of hard work and is typically not accomplished overnight. A good name can take a lifetime to build , and be lost in an instant.


Take Starbucks, for instance. Their mermaid logo was derived from a nautical theme, inspired by the story “Moby Dick” and the first mate of the famous whaling ship, whose name was “Starbuck”. Since their first store opened in 1971, Starbucks has held as their mission, the desire “...to inspire and nurture the human spirit- one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at at time. “  ( from Starbucks.com )  Even without the text, how many of us immediately recognize the green mermaid logo ? I’m surprised that my GPS doesn’t automatically alert me with a command to “ turn into Starbucks “.  The brand is representative of what we all know that we find in each store - fresh brewed rich and robust coffee, free WiFi , and a casual atmosphere with good tunes that encourages connection and communication. It is a chilled vibe of collaboration and a great atmosphere to work or to play.


If our personal name was branded, trademarked and registered, how would people react in the market place ? OK, I realize we don’t base our lives on people’s opinions, but what do you think the overall consensus would be ? It is a sobering thought . Would our brand be synonymous with the words, “ creative”, “ honest”, “ responsive” , “ hard working” , “ trustworthy” , “team player”,“ dependable “, and “ kind “ ? Even in the midst of our uber high tech world, the word of mouth still remains the strongest and most respected form of advertising. I have seen restaurants that started slipping in their service and quality of food. Almost overnight, behind the scenes, patrons started talking bad about their experiences ; and by the time the bad news reaches the owners, their business is already close to death. Mark Twain once said that , “ Bad news travels halfway around the world, before good news gets out of bed in the morning.”


So...are you protecting your brand ? Not only your company brand, but your personal brand ? Our clients know who is honest and who is not. They observe , in their business dealings, who treats them with fairness and who is only out for themselves. Our clients see who responds the quickest to their requests, and who follows through and keeps their word when they make a promise, even when it hurts. Those who have a good name will be trusted, and trusted people become successful people. Trusted sales reps get the second and the third calls. Protect your brand !  A good name is more desirable than great riches.


“ Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it ; the tree is the real thing. “  - Abraham Lincoln