DOES YOUR BRAND EQUAL LONGEVITY?

“Brand” is the second of the 12 Essential Practices for Revenue Growth we use in guiding clients in growing more revenue, more clients and opening more doors. It can be visual or descriptive. But as Jeff Bezos of Amazon says, “Your brand is what stays in the room after you leave the room.”

What you say or do in a prospect meeting, at a networking event, or on a speaking panel becomes the mental picture others have of your firm, through you. Will it enable you to have longevity with your targets. Or have you burned bridges without even knowing it.  As one counsel stated, in a pitch meeting, we were outnumbered and out-talked. Another mentioned that in a recent meeting she was offered help with managing what they were already doing, not what they needed. And we have even heard that presenters were not prepared, showed a lack of business etiquette i.e. taking calls, and seemed disinterested in building a relationship.

Nike does not sell shoes, they sell performance enhancing products. Black and Decker does not sell power drills, they sell “holes” according to their Senior Vice President for Marketing.

So what is your brand communicating? What are you leaving behind in the room? Remember, there is a critical point at which your values need to become the prospect or client’s need. That is your brand.