“We don’t need a brand, we just need more sales”. Does that sound familiar? It’s often a view aired by too many people running B2B businesses. It’s why they refuse to invest in creating, promoting and building a brand. The irony is that more often than not it will be the absence of a brand that is indeed holding back the sales. If you’re not convinced then read on.
Let’s start by thinking about how most people buy. The decision making process is well documented and whilst it varies by sector the key stages are similar across them all.
Problem identification
It starts with a problem or maybe an opportunity to improve some aspect of the business. There are usually numerous different ways of solving the problem and the buyer will usually start by drawing up a list (either literally or just in their heads) of possible approaches. This might be from memory or increasingly through Google.
Two important “brand actions” can happen here. Firstly the “recall” of businesses that exist in their memory already and secondly “recognition” of company names that appear on the 27 pages of search results from Google. Have you ever noticed that the links you click on more readily tend to be the ones with names you recognise?
Whilst your brand at this point is not getting you on the list, it is influencing the chosen approach and therefore increasing your chances of being included because your name is associated with one of the chosen routes.
Consideration set – the long list
The next stage is to choose one or two approaches and to investigate other companies that offer a solution that meets that approach. They may be companies that have contacted you in the past, they may be companies who’s adverts you have seen or again you may go online to search for possible suppliers.
Here the “brand actions” are very similar to the first stage except this time you are looking for brands associated with a particular competence rather than those you associate with a problem. Either way it is these associations that get you on the long list and if you’re not on the long list you definitely wont be on the short list.
Preference set – the short list
The most critical stage. Deciding who to meet with and who to present with the opportunity to sell to you. Typically this decision is now made on line. Your website is likely to dictate whether or not you make the short list. It obviously needs to explain the solutions you offer, but it has to do more than that. It needs to clearly position your brand and differentiate you from the competitors.
The reduction to a short list is the most rational stage of the decision making process and so good sales arguments are needed. However, the reality is that most people are lazy at this point and that judgements are made unscientifically. Rather than drawing up a list of requirements and scoring each potential supplier on each point they make a judgement based on which suppliers “feel” like they meet the criteria. This judgement is made on associations, both negative and positive, that have been created with each brand over time. [see box Brand Associations].
We literally order potential suppliers in our minds those at the top of the list have more and stronger positive associations with the factors being considered. Exactly how this hierarchy is formed no one knows, but what we do know is that the associations that dictate our position in the hierarchy are created over time every time we come into contact with a brand whether consciously and sub-consciously. What we also know is that there is a point when a brand and it’s associations are transferred to long term memory and that these are most readily placed at the top of the list.
That is why as Brand Guardians we have to ensure that every interaction is reinforcing the relevant associations and more importantly consistent with a single promise which defines what our brands stand for.
Proposal reviews
This is where sales take over, but the influence of the brand is still critical. The buyer calls in a number of suppliers to present their proposals. By this point he has a number of expectations that have been based on everything he has seen or heard to date. Success will be heavily influenced by the sales persons’ skill and professionalism. How well they have identified his needs and demonstrated that your solution meets those needs better than the others. However, it is also the most important brand interaction of all. If the presentation isn’t consistent with his expectations then rather than reinforcing established associations it serves to create new ones.
Despite the fact that buyers try to formalise the selection process and ensure that it is a rational decision, the final judgement is in fact an emotional one.
Supplier choice
Having established that a number of suppliers can meet his needs the choice is based on how “comfortable” he feels about working with you. It’s a feeling based on everything that has happened to this point.
We’ve all experienced this, despite one company being less expensive and equally competent we felt more comfortable with the other supplier. Your sales director will say “that’s because people buy people” but that is only part of it. People buy brands and the sales team are an important part of the brand. The strongest brands and as a result the most successful businesses are those that are consistent with their experiences and messages to establish this feeling of trust.
Repurchase
One of the most important stages of the buying process and one often ignored is that of buying again from a current supplier. And yes effective account management is important but often attentive account managers can in fact restrict the opportunity for increased business. Having provided a product or a service they can be seen as being experts in a particular field and they work hard to demonstrate how they can add value in this field. Often it is someone else who is responsible for selling your other products and services and so they never get discussed.
In order to maximise the value of your customer base it is important that over time you build up associations between your brand and all your areas of competence not just the one’s they use currently. The challenge is to do this in a way that is clear, logical and consistent and it requires careful planning to construct a brand that accommodates all products and services and yet still differentiates you in a way that is appropriate for them all.
So, the brand has an impact throughout the buying process. Without a clearly defined and consistently communicated brand and critically a brand that is lived by every customer facing employee your approach may not be considered as often as it should be, you wont make it on the long list, your proposal may well be rejected no matter how technically sound it was and you will fail to realise the full potential value that exists within your customer base. You can’t afford to create and a brand? We believe you can’t afford not to!
Brand associations box
Brands only exist as concepts in people’s minds. In your mind, your employees minds, your shareholders’ minds and in the minds of your customers and potential customers. They are unique to everyone and consist of associations with other concepts. Positive concepts like professional, reliable, flexible or stable as well neutral concepts that describe your category, competences, the problems you solve and the solutions you offer.
These associations vary in strength and are directional. You can be associated with your category (important in recognition) and equally your category can be established with your brand (recall). The strength of the association is relative and the stronger the association the more likely that the association is brought from the subconscious to the conscious. Ie the more likely that your brand will be recognised, recalled or even selected at the point that the final decision is made.
By Richard Bush, MD, Base One
