How Important is Your Image?

For centuries now businesses across the world have relied on marketing as the main way of getting new business. This has consisted of advertising, PR, branding, customer service, loyalty systems, social networks and many other aspects.

The marketing process today focuses a great deal on ‘image’. This is simply the idea that if a product or service has the right ‘image’ in the eye of the potential customer then they are more likely to buy! An ‘image’ is a picture. Some call this branding but it is more than that. Macdonald’s is a brand, but the ‘image’ we have is of that lovely cheese coated, freshly cooked, hot yummy 100% burger, if that’s what turns you on! You don’t go to MacDonald’s because of its name, but because you fancy a burger!

Businesses need to ensure that their potential customer get an ‘image’ of their product or service. They need to know that they will get real enjoyment and advantage out of it, whether it is a burger, a new settee, a new car or even a new partner!

A lot of what we believe is stamped into our heads by the advertising medium. We see a specific manufacturer of beds for example who’s advertising does not focus on the quality of the bed but more on the quality of sleep that you will get. This is the ‘image’ that we want.

A lot of this process originates with our belief in a specific business. For example, if we purchase product for our home in IKEA, we probably have the ‘image’ in our head that IKEA sells the sort of stuff that we like at a price we can afford. However, you might be the sort of person who would not be seen dead in IKEA or indeed allow their products in your home. It is those things that are important to you that matter. It is the overall ‘image’ of the business that attracts or repels us.

My wife and I purchased some new settees from a well known furniture group who advertise on TV. The settees were just what we wanted and the price quite acceptable. The only problem was that after about a year they started to sag and had lost their good looks. “You get what you pay for” we were told. Would we buy another product from them? No, of course not, because their ‘image’ is one of cheap and not very well made.  That image in our eyes is almost impossible to change!

Last year we were at an exhibition and visited the Raft Furniture stand. We had a long chat with the exhibitor about how the settees were made, the quality of the leather, the source of the oak and teak they used, the guarantee, price, delivery etc. We even tried the product out and spent time looking at the quality. Now the price was substantially more but the quality was superb. The guarantee indicated that the product would probably see us out of this world. The ‘image’ that we have of Raft products is so good that we would definitely shop there in the future.

To gain a good image takes more than selling you a product. Marketing is expensive and you need to win over your buyers with an ‘image’ that brings them back, time and time again. Part of the way to do this, is to prove to potential customers or clients, that you know what you’re talking about, you understand your products and services, you know how they will affect your customers, indeed … you have to show them everything that will give them the right ‘image’ of what you offer. In short you need to demonstrate that you are an authority on the product or service in question.

Demonstrating Authority

This can be very hard if you only have a short period of time to achieve it. If someone walks into your shop and wants to buy a £1 product you can’t afford any time so you won’t bother. But if someone comes into your car salesroom and wants to buy a new top end Mercedes then you can spare quite a lot of time, in fact the more interest they show, the more time you will give.

But most of us are not selling ‘image’ type products as such. We offer business services and goods generally. If we have a retail business we rely on the manufacturer of all the different brands we sell to create that ‘image’ for us. Of course the truth is that our retail shop itself has to have a favourable ‘image’ with our potential customers. I had a bad experience with one of the supermarket chains (I won’t say who but bright green comes to mind) such that the ‘image’ I have of them is so bad that I would rather walk an extra mile for a pint of milk, than go into their store! I don’t care if they claim to be cheaper than anyone else, they stink in my opinion – a bad ‘image’ is very difficult to remove.

If I wanted to hire a consultant to help me with a specific area of my business, how do I go about finding the right person? That’s quite easy for me because I know a lot of people who I have experience of working with and they have an ‘image’ which I like. There are some that have great ‘images’ but not in the area that I need. But to many business people they do not have this knowledge and have to search for it. We often do that by asking others we know if they can recommend someone. Interestingly, we probably ask those who have a good ‘image’ in our eyes, first.

If we subscribe to our local business magazine and each month there is an article by a particular consultant which we enjoy reading and learn from and we have a need for such a person, would we not be attracted to the author of those articles? Of course we would especially if the subject written about is closely related to some problem we have.

It is said that when a person publishes a business book they almost automatically get more business because they are seen as an authority. Sadly most of us cannot afford the time or effort to become a published author and gain such an ‘image’.

What would happen though, if you could improve your ‘image’ by being able to publish authoritative articles on your area of knowledge? Do you think your ‘image’ might be improved? The evidence is that every little bit helps.

Have a look at http://www.onc3.com and then join our FaceBook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/organicnetwork to learn more about improving your image.

Enjoy your day!