7 Keys to Executing a Successful Business Rebrand

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No matter your reason for embarking upon a business rebranding effort of a company or product name, logo, phrase, design scheme or other such asset, which can be mixed and many, one thing is certain: execute poorly and suffer extreme consequences. There is simply no rebranding effort where the stakes are not extraordinarily high and the margin for error is slim at best. This history has been proven repeatedly amid a litany of rebrand debacles that didn’t heed just a few fundamental principles.

With this in mind, globally regarded business growth authority Steve Blue, CEO of Miller Ingenuity – a 60-year old company that successfully implemented a corporate rebranding effort, offers these 7 best practice keys for effectively executing a rebranding initiative:

Key #1: Get clear on what a brand is
A brand is not just your logo. A brand is the sum total of the messages, interactions, and experiences a customer has with your product, services, and people. To a customer, a brand is the promise of an EXPERIENCE and the customer’s EXPERIENCE of that promise delivered. It’s a valuable asset to nurture over time.

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About the Author

CEO Miller IngenuityWith more than three decades of management, executive, consulting and speaking experience in markets all over the world, Miller Ingenuity CEO Steve Blue is a globally regarded business growth authority and ‘turnaround specialist’ who has transformed companies into industry giants and enthralled audiences with his dynamic keynotes. In his upcoming book, Outdo, Outsmart… Outlast: A Practical Guide to Managed, Measured and Meaningful Growth, he reveals why seeking growth and surviving growth are equally perilous, and require different sets of plans to weather the storms. Steve may be reached at www.StevenLBlue.com.

Online subscriptions offer amazing perks and value

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Online publications are the rage and the future. They offer amazing value for the publisher, for the advertiser, and for the reader. They also offer more than significant cost reduction for all three players.

BACKGROUND: I moved to Charlotte in 1988. I brought as much of the Northeast with me as I possibly could. That included my subscription to The New Yorker magazine. The magazine doesn’t just have the best articles in the world; it also has the best cartoons in the universe.

The magazine comes out 47 times a year. As you can imagine, oftentimes, for one reason or another (as with your subscriptions), the magazine did not get read. Sometimes there would be an unread pile of five or six. Guilt would set in.

Finally after about eight or nine years, I stopped my subscription. Occasionally I would pick up one in the airport gift shop and read it on the plane and I continued to subscribe to the cartoon newsletter. It came to my email inbox with all the cartoons once a week. Then they changed it, and made you click onto their website in order to see the cartoons, so I quit reading it.

TODAY: This morning I got a random email listing the contents of this week’s New Yorker magazine. I guess they had my address and decided to quasi-spam me. I bit.

I clicked on the link and found out that for $59.95 a year, I could get a digital subscription that included the current issue, a one-year subscription, and access to EVERY back issue since 1925. Plus they throw in The New Yorker cartoon calendar. I couldn’t resist.

I bought the online version, and from now on I will only buy the online version of anything I want to subscribe to or read. Here’s why: I go on the airplane, I click The New Yorker magazine icon on my iPad. Then I read this week’s issue, I look at this week’s cartoons, and I can go back and look at nearly 5,000 other back issues that are searchable by content. Holy magazine, Batman!

REALITY QUESTIONS: Are they trying to discourage me from buying their printed issues? If you have an e-reader, why would you buy any printed magazine?

REALITY FACTS; Newsweek, which had more than 100 years of printed issues, STOPPED PRINTING their magazine. Now you can only get the magazine online.

TODAY: I used to subscribe to Selling Power magazine. It’s the voice of salespeople, sales tips, sales techniques, sales lists, and sales products.

THE FUTURE IS TODAY: They stopped printing the magazine a few months ago, and only offer an online version. Brilliant. Gerhard Gschwandtner, the founder, publisher, and visionary saw that print versions were declining in revenue, and it was time to decide on the future rather than lament the present.

REALITY: Online cuts costs. DRASTICALLY. Online makes advertising more affordable. Online offers more options for the reader to connect with the advertiser. With print ads, the reader has to make a call or go online and search. With online ads, the reader is already online and only has to click the ad to find out more, subscribe to a blog, get a video, go to the advertisers website, or buy something.

I’M ALL IN: Am I missing something here? Value, versatility, and instant access. Look for my ad in Selling Power magazine in April. It’s an ad I would have NEVER placed in the print version; an ad that is 50% less expensive than it was in their printed version; an ad that gives their reader (my prospective customer) instant access to my offer to buy.

FOOLS GOLD: Five years ago I had a talk with some Yellow Pages executives. I asked them how much longer the Yellow Pages would be printed, and when they would be switching to an online version. They smiled and proclaimed, “We’re not going to stop printing. The book is our cash cow.” And they changed the subject. In the last five years, the book has gone from a cash cow, to a cash calf, to a cash rump roast. And YP.com is more than ten years late to the dance.

Please don’t read this the wrong way. Print is not dead. In fact, it will always be alive. Many people still don’t have the ability to get online publications. But the market is making a HUGE shift. There are “only” a few hundred million e-readers and tablets, and a few hundred million more smart phones. The print impact felt by online availability is undeniable.

THINK ABOUT YOU: How much of an impact has your e-reader or tablet made on your reading habits? What are you subscribing to? Has online reading brought you greater convenience and availability? Easier access and more incentive to stay current?

And finally, what are your plans to make your products and services ‘online available?’

THINK ABOUT THIS: Every time you see someone reading on a tablet, they could be reading about you!

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

How is a cup of coffee like a sale? When it’s with a customer!

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I like coffee. Dark, black coffee. Espresso. No cream. No sugar. Just dark, black coffee. You?

But I look at coffee differently than you do. I don’t “wake up and drink it.” I venture out to a coffee shop and an early morning meeting, and oh, by the way, I have coffee.

My goal each day is to have an early morning cup of coffee with someone that can help me enhance relationships, make connections, build value, and make sales. As a traveler, I can’t do this every day. But I try my best to do it as often as I am able.

A meeting is a brand new way to look at the value of a cup of coffee. You may look at coffee as a cost or an expense. To me, coffee is an investment of time. It’s not “how I drink it.” Rather, it’s “who I drink it with.”

KEY POINT OF UNDERSTANDING: Whenever I meet someone for coffee in the morning, I find the meeting is relaxed and fun. It’s a genuine exchange of information. Always informal and humorous. And it’s usually with someone I do business with or could do business with.

I try to have these meetings early. Very early. Between seven and eight in the morning. Sometimes I have two breakfasts. One at seven and one and eight.

Oftentimes my appointments meet each other, so it becomes an additional networking opportunity. Many of my customers, prospects, and connections have done business with my other customers, prospects, and connections.

PERSONAL NOTE: When I’m done my with coffee and my meeting is over, I get back home as fast as I can so I can take our young daughter to school by nine. And no, I can’t do it every day, but that is the goal every day.

Think about the impact of that. A sales call BEFORE the day starts.

HERE’S HOW THAT IDEA APPLIES TO YOU:

If you have one cup of coffee a day with a customer or prospect, that’s equal to 250 sales calls THIS YEAR that will be relaxed, build relationships, make sales, gain referrals, and create business opportunities. Coffee and sales – not just coffee.

What could you do with an additional 250 meetings, appointments, or actual sales calls? How much extra income would that convert to? How much quicker could you advance your sales cycle? My wallet is pulsating just thinking about it.

“But Jeffrey,” you whine, “My customers are scattered all over the country.”

QUIT WHINING AND START THINKING: Drink coffee at your desk with a connection via Skype or vsee.com. Send Starbucks gift cards via aceofsales.com. It’s so unusual that customers will set the meeting, and then talk about how innovative it was.

“But Jeffrey,” you whine, “What do I talk about during the meeting?”

ANYTHING BUT BUSINESS AT THE START OF THE MEETING.

  • Talk family
  • Talk kids
  • Talk hobbies
  • Talk sports
  • Talk vacation
  • Talk travel
  • Talk fashion
  • Talk books
  • Talk movies
  • Talk culture
  • Talk passion
  • Talk ideas
  • Talk social media

Ask questions that allow you to ask more questions. NO NEWS, NO WEATHER, NO POLITICS, NO RELIGION, or anything negative about people or things.

“But Jeffrey,” you whine, “What tone should I set inside the meeting?

HOW TO SAY IT:

  • Talk positive
  • Talk truth
  • Talk relaxed
  • Talk about things in common
  • Talk humor

“But Jeffrey,” you whine, “What sales tools should I bring?”

TOOLS MAKE SALES FAST AND EASY:

  • Bring a referral
  • Bring a book
  • Bring an idea
  • Bring an influential friend
  • Bring your Instagram on an iPad

REMEMBER AND MEMORIALIZE:

  • Take notes
  • Take a photo
  • Ask for his or her favorite – quote, book, movie, team, player
  • Make another appointment at the end of the meeting
  • It’s under five bucks
  • It doesn’t interfere with your workday

“But Jeffrey,” you whine, “When do I start talking business?”

When the customer brings it up. Talk business when THEY START.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Windshield time. Before and after opportunities.

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All outside salespeople have ‘windshield time’ – the time you spend behind the wheel, or in some form of transportation, going to and from appointments.

Windshield time is a critical time both for the anticipation of the sales call and for the aftermath of the sales call.

REALITY CHECK: How are you taking advantage of that valuable time? Here are the options: Waste it. Invest it. Your choice.

Most salespeople have a habit of doing the same thing when they get in the car. They either listen to their favorite radio station or, perhaps better, they listen to something that they can learn from.

What do you listen to?
What should you listen to?

Be prepared to learn and be inspired. All at times, have that ONE CD or that ONE SET of CDs that best resonate with you.

Here are two of my all-time favorites:

  1. The Art of Exceptional Living by Jim Rohn. (I carried this set of CDs in my car for a decade, and will listen to it again this year.)
  2. The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale. Total inspiration. Listen once a month.

REALTY: Windshield time is your best time to prepare mentally and emotionally before the call and review what happened after the call.

I have 7.5 more ideas that I’d like to share with you about windshield time:

IDEA 1: On your way to the call, identify the first two or three questions you want to ask your prospect. Voice to text them to yourself. Start the mental preparation for the call. I promise when you generate two or three questions, you will also generate an idea or two.

IDEA 2: Make slides for each question before you go inside so that you are certain to ask them. My first slide always reads, “Before we get started, I’d like to ask you a couple of questions.” The second you generate the idea, voice to text yourself the content and then make the slide in the lobby when you arrive. (This requires getting there early, not ‘on time.’)

IDEA 3: Voice to text as you think of other things. This will both ensure you remember the thoughts and it will clear your mind. I cannot stress enough the importance of ZERO MENTAL CLUTTER before the sale. Get rid of excess thought, no matter how small, so your focus is 100% on the customer and the sale.

IDEA 4: Pump it up. Listen to your favorite music just before you enter the call. Get happy, get excited, get your rhythm, put some bounce in your step, get your enthusiasm set on ‘high.’ Music can do all of these things.

IDEA 5: Before the call, mentally establish your expected outcome. Think about the detail of it. Expect a ‘yes’ before you start.

IDEA 6: Listen to the recording of your sales presentation as soon as you dare. You’ll laugh and cry. It’s the biggest reality check of your life, and the best private coaching session you’ll ever receive.

IDEA 7: Record the “wish-I-woulda – crap-I-shoulda” for a minute or two immediately after it’s over. Take note of your impression of what happened, good or bad.

IDEA 7.5: Record any promises you made, especially as relates to additional info you need to send to the customer as well as deadlines for follow-up.

NOTE: Never actually text while driving. If you don’t have voice to text capability, pull over to the side of the road.

PRE-CALL REALITY: Once you have a few questions prepared, a couple of ideas documented, and your favorite rock song playing in your head, your confidence level entering the sales call will triple.

POST-CALL REALITY: Once you ‘download’ the after-the-call reality and listen to the recording, document what you should have done and document what still needs to be done so your mind will be fertile for the next call.

BIGGEST IDEA and AHA!: Win or lose the sale? Celebrate that outcome either way. Recognize that proper investment of windshield time will give you a hell of a lot more YES! celebrations.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Salespeople have questions. Jeffrey has answers.

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I get a ton of emails from people seeking insight or asking me to solve their sales dilemmas. Here are a few that may relate to your job, your life, and (most important) your sales thought process right now.

Dear Jeffrey, This is my first week in car sales. Can you tell me what sections of any of your books I could go to for help with deflecting that first, “What’s your best price?” question. I want to build rapport and provide the value of my services in addition to the vehicle. I was thinking of using your “Can you close a sale in five questions?” as my porcupine close, ignoring the price question, and asking my own question, “Jeffrey, how do you select a car or truck?” Any suggestions? Rich

Rich, Yes, I have a bunch of suggestions. First of all, you’re battling 100 years worth of doing it the wrong way. Yes, there have been a lot of cars sold, but oftentimes in spite of themselves. And the reason people come in and want the best price is because they’ve already shopped online. They already know what the car costs. The customer is now more educated in the car business than the car salesperson is because the customer has probably shopped ten different brands and the car salesman pretty much only knows his own.

So the challenge for you as a salesperson is if you get a question of “What is your best price?” get it down to the model and say, “Look, I’ll give you my best price, but don’t you want to know if this is the right car for you? Why don’t we take it for a drive and then we’ll talk about how much it is if you really want it. If you don’t want it, there’s no sense in negotiating for it and I’m assuming if I give you may best price, you’ll say ‘Thanks’ and buy it. Otherwise, you’re going to go shop around and thank me and then go talk to my competition and that’s not what we want to do. We want to put you in a car. We want to make you feel great, and we want you to get the best car for your money today and when you sell it, and we want to make sure along the way that it’s maintained. Is that fair enough?” Jeffrey

Dear Jeffrey, I’m in sales and the manager of the office is also an agent. She distributes the internet leads for the other agents and regularly keeps the highest dollar leads for herself. We have a transparent database that percentage-wise shows she’s been doing this for over a year, yet she denies it. How do I deal with a manager like this? Bill

Bill, You quit! You don’t want to work for a liar. You certainly don’t want to work for someone who garners all the leads for herself. Why don’t you give her all the leads and go get your own leads? Or, why don’t you go someplace where it’s more fair? My recommendation is first talk to her boss and ask if there is any way the leads can be distributed more fairly. Obviously, if you were getting all the leads you might do the same thing yourself. It’s called cherry picking. She knows not only what the best lead is, but also what the easiest lead to close is. Maybe it should just be random, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, and split up the leads like that. If she fights it, she’s doing it the wrong way. You gotta be ethical, you gotta be honest, or you gotta find another job. Best regards, Jeffrey

Dear Jeffrey, I have a large insurance agency and we interview for salespeople quite often. “Looking for a professional with an aggressive sales demeanor.” Somebody told me of an interview question that they ask and I’d like to get your opinion. During an interview, this person will ask the interviewee to bark like a dog. That’s a pretty rough question isn’t it? If they don’t do it, the person will end the interview. If they do it, the interview continues. The rationale is that if they don’t do it, they’re not inclined to get out of their comfort zone. If they bark, and they’re comfortable in doing it, they’ll be comfortable in doing things out of their normal task. What do you think of this? Jay

Jay, What do you think of it? Do you think it’s professional or do you think it’s third grade? Well, I’m sorry candidate, you didn’t bark like a dog, so even though you’re a great salesperson, you’re a smart guy, and you’ve got a great attitude, you’re disqualified. Dude, that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life! Why don’t they just cluck like a chicken? The challenge is this: If I’m interviewing someone, I want to know if they’re smart, I want to know if they’re self-starting, I want to know if they have a great attitude, and I want to know if they have some kind of past history of success. All the rest is irrelevant. Best regards, Jeffrey

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].