September 18, 2013 – ISSN# 1545-2646
The Business of Perceptions
Last year how much money did your organization spend on marketing and branding your business?
Take some time to add it all up – from business cards to websites to social media and brochures. The number can grow pretty rapidly. Now that you have a number, what did you gain in return for those expenditures? It is many times more difficult to determine what level of return on your investment those expenses actually brought back to the organization than finding a number to budget.
Today, I’m not going to focus on the tangible branding expenses (marketing budget) but on the intangible costs your business is experiencing do to the perceptions which are left with your customer.
An example may be the best way to highlight these hidden or soft expenses which cost your business profit dollars each year.
The business has a well lit foyer with lush green plants, marble floors and a glass table with prestigious journals fanned out on them. An attendant welcomes you to the business and offers a beverage while you wait for your 10:00am appointment for which you arrived 10 minutes early. You look around and see 4 others patiently waiting for their meetings. All is good. Impressions have been started by the environment you have arrived at.
At 10:15am the attendant informs you your meeting has been delayed but will start shortly. You acknowledge with a level of understanding that things happen. Shortly there after you see your contact through the glass doors moving as if dodging to be seen by the lobby of people which has now grown to 9 people.
By 10:40am those who had arrived before you are restless. One has already departed in a huff. Others are sharing their meeting times to see who might be the next to be seen and if everyone was waiting on the same individual.
At 11:00am another person has departed voicing their opinion about the delays so everyone could hear and only one person has been taken back to their meeting who knows how late from their original time.
Now over 75 minutes has gone by since the appointment time and you are greeted with a rushed approach and scurried to a room which is now four walls of drab color and a table that shows considerable use.
So now what are your perceptions of the organization?
The business spent lots of dollars on their branding in the waiting room but unfortunately for them, those who have to use it spend way to much time there and to little time getting their business taken care of. There is an old saying, you can dress up a pig in a dress to make it look like something else but in the end it is still a pig.
This week take a look at your business. You probably have some idea as to what you budget or spend on branding your business. The bigger question is – are your people eliminating all that value by the way they transact business with the customer who pays the bill?
I don’t think you would like to visit and eat at a dirty restaurant or go to a doctor’s office which always has a 2 hour wait from your appointment time.
Wondering how to get a read on your hidden costs? Give JKL Associates a call at (313) 527-7945.
Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945
Copyright – JKL Associates 2013
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