To Brand Owners

An organization is a blend of mystical forces in a bottomless ocean of brands with a character having a footprint of its founder. It represents deep emotional intelligence, a thought process and a reason for being.

Lesson 1 – No company is infallible – All are susceptible to failures!

Lesson 2 – Don't treat the symptoms; address the cause of the problem

Lesson 3 – Understand the importance of Collective Brand Focus

Lesson 4 – Learn the Art of Involvement

CEOs hire caretakers who babysit and nourish their brands. They are commonly regarded as sales executives, fashion consultants, store and brand managers.

Now, as a founder or CEO...

1. Wouldn’t you like to know your caretakers personally; people who look after your brand?
2. Who they are and how they are treating your own brainchild?
3. And the image that they are conveying to the common man; through speech, presentation, personal appearance and in consumer interactions?

Some brands take a tremendous flight right from the get-go … and yet, there are those which nosedive into oblivion shortly after taking off.

The rise and fall begins with the head office!
That is the common denominator

Founder’s personal involvement will make the brand soar; failure in doing that will jeopardize your market share. If you don’t care; caretakers will not either.

1. Getting to know your people make a world of difference – feel the pulse of your employees; especially the sales staff. Meet with them frequently and ask questions which indicate concern and interest. Ask for potential solutions which creates a bond of trust.
2. Get Managers and Sales Staff trained on modern mechanisms of brand drivers. Observe what soaring brands are doing and duplicate the same.
3. Focus on internal branding first. Build your brand from within; with your employee-base as a foundational step one. They are the ones who interact with public in general and convey the appeal of your brainchild.
4. Low-salaried untrained staff can easily be found who can work on meager wages with no perks or incentives. And they will deliver a devastating blow to your brainchild which will inevitably branch out into multiple headaches.
5. Untrained but intelligent staff can also be hired through a process. With right salary/incentive package, continuous monitoring, motivation and training, they will make your brand a dignified household name. Consumer loyalty then becomes a side-effect.

In my recent business tour across big and small cities, following are the problems I have personally witnessed encompassing numerous brands.

1. Sales personnel don’t greet people and are poor ice-breakers. In one instance, I entered the store with an intention to get a feel of the product, took a tour and left the place. Nobody even approached me, let alone a simple hello. Imagine the impression that particular brand left me with.
2. Sales people cannot connect with their own brands emotionally.
3. Sales staff cannot create the need or convey the appeal to a prospective buyer on a sensible level.
4. Sales teams lack knowledge and stand disunited on the floor.
5. I also discovered a great deal of friction among sales staff, between sales staff and their managers and between managers and regional managers. They all operated on personal agendas. (Inside politics and blame game routines)
6. In simple terms, they are problem focused – not solution driven. They only care about making the salary at the end of the month.
7. Their main complain remains anchored towards the head office - that the top management don't care about their input, stays aloof and isolated. And that pretty much sums up the problem right there.

Folks, it is a simple case of reputation management which impacts your own bottom-line. Challenges can always be addressed and dysfunctions removed with the right expertise.

But personal involvement, regrettably, has NO substitute.

Now, the only question remains…