How do you think your company is perceived by outsiders? For most business owners, our hope is that we will be seen as professionals. We want potential customers to know we are professionals and that our company is guided by integrity and a passion for hard work. Unfortunately, we’re not always self-aware enough to see what kind of image we’re creating for our business. Sometimes we miss the details and the non-verbal messages we our putting out into the world.
Building a reputation is so much more than a little branding or a clever slogan. If you want to create an image as a company that can be trusted, consistency is key. This means that everything you do and say has to align with the vision you have for your brand. Here’s how the small stuff can make or break your company’s reputation.
Investing in Your Brand
We talk about branding a lot when we talk about marketing. The big picture of branding often includes website design, copywriting for your website or marketing materials, and a logo on your truck. These things are all important but they’re only the beginning of building a brand.
Too often, we allow concerns about time or budget keep us from invested in our brand as much as is needed. If we want to be seen as professionals, everything we put out there needs to be professional quality. Small things, like typos or misinformation on your website or social media can slowly chip away at how you are perceived. This means websites needs to be well built, aesthetically pleasing, and error free. The content on your site should be well informed and it needs to be uniquely yours. Make a practice of reviewing your website, blog posts, and emails regularly to ensure that it aligns with the image you are working hard to create.
Meeting Expectations
Great marketing is important to your company. Marketing gets you the attention you need to grow. Marketing is the methods you use to ensure that your name is the first that comes to mind when the need for restoration work arises.
However, a problem exists when the marketing message you put out in the world creates expectations you aren’t working hard to meet. A well designed and informative website is great, but professional service is much more important. Imagine the concern a homeowner would feel if they’re expecting a professional staff only to find that the team working in their home are using old equipment, they’re not in uniform, and they difficult to communicate with or even rude.
Meeting expectations is often about the non-verbal messages we are sending to others. It isn’t about the words we say, but how we say those words and the body language we use when we say it. Is your staff being trained on how to have courteous and patient conversations about the drying process with homeowners? Are they aware that their physical appearance — a clean uniform, good personal hygiene, and clean truck — can positively or negatively affect your company’s image?
Maintaining Appearance
Maintaining a professional appearance doesn’t only fall on your crew members. It is your job as the owner to be certain that you are creating a healthy image for your company. This can mean a lot different things, and it often requires being aware of the small things that can help or harm your brand.
Ongoing customer service training is a good first step in maintaining the appearance of your company. Give your employees repeated opportunities to practice their phone conversation skills and their on-site interactions with homeowners. That way, you can feel confident that the non-verbal messages they are sending align with your standards for empathetic and professional care of your customers.
Prioritize the physical appearance of your team, the vehicles they drive, and the tools they use. Routinely replace your employees’ uniforms. The clothes we wear experience a lot of wear and tear because of the nature of our work. Budget in routine replacements to keep your team members looking professional. Making truck maintenance and cleaning routine as well as maintenance and inspection of your equipment. Add these tasks to your team’s check off list so it becomes automatic.
Lastly, know the digital message you are sending out into the world inside and out by regularly auditing your web presence. Too often we put up a website and forget it. An audit of your website and social media content is a great way to take a comprehensive look at the type of language you are using to consider ways you might want make adjustments or errors you might want to correct.
At More Floods, we have the pleasure with working with small business owners in water damage restoration as they create and refine their company’s image. To learn more about how we can help you create systems for the ideas listed above, click here or call 1-866-667-3356.