Building your brand image

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: This article is the last in this series on the growth of an enterprise. One of the key things to keep in mind while transitioning into a bigger entity is the image of the business. This is often termed ‘Brand Image,’ which, for a smaller entity, may not be as powerful as in the case of a bigger company.

In the early years of a business, or when a business is relatively small, much of the energy and concentration is on survival. Sufficient importance is typically not given to building a professional, consistent image of the company. As the business grows, attention should be paid to this aspect.

Adding value to your partners

What do your customers and others who interact with your company think of you? Would the majority be happy to be associated with you, do business with you? Obviously you would like the answer to be a resounding ‘YES.’ So how do you get this yes? How do you convey this image of your firm as a serious enterprise that means business? How can you be viewed as a business that adds value to those with whom it partners—its suppliers, its customers, its agents, its advisors ,etc.?

Professional and structured approach

The image of the business depends on a variety of factors. Professional approaches are to be taken in understanding the expectations of those who do business with you. Many times, promises are made to customers and others without taking heed of what they really want from you. If you are unable to live up to your promises and their expectations, your image can take a beating.

Professional approaches are also to be taken in day-to-day operational issues, in the way you deal with those you interact with, whether they are your employees or clients or suppliers. To illustrate, let us take a simple thing such as email communication. Nowadays, much of business communication is over email. It would be useful to examine the email etiquette in your company. Email etiquette refers to many things. Let us look at some key points.

These days, many of us have got into the habit of using abbreviations, such as, ‘u’ for you, ‘thx’ for thanks, etc. In business communication, it is best to avoid such abbreviations. Some persons use capital letters all the time in email. This again is not advised, as many persons equate the usage of CAPITAL letters to SHOUTING.