Have you ever gone to a movie full of anticipation because the trailer promised a thrill ride only to be disappointed with a so-so boring waste of money and time? The promise didn’t deliver the goods.
How often have you been disappointed with a purchase when the brand promise failed to deliver?
As a business owner, do you know how often your customers have been disappointed?
What can you do about it?
You will succeed in any business if you do three things.
- Get people to KNOW you. Who are you and what do you do? Are you a restaurant owner with the best pizza in town? Are you an auto mechanic with a 36 point inspection process that puts your competitors to shame? Are you a real estate agent with an irresistible, iron clad guarantee? HINT: There are a million avenues to get the message out. We can help.
- Get people to LIKE you. There’re hundreds of options for dinner tonight. Why your pizza place? Do you back a community organization I believe in? Do you have a zillion 5-star Google reviews? Do my friends all agree you’re the most knowledgeable guy in your field? HINT: There are another million options to do this. We can help.
- Get people to TRUST you. If the first time I order pizza from you it arrives cold, burnt, and 30 minutes late, you’re going to have to work a lot harder to get me to trust you a second time. But if you answer my complaint with grace and send over a new piping hot pizza and a sincere apology then we’ll see you next weekend! HINT: Building trust is a lot easier than getting it back. (Owning a mistake helps build trust.) We can help.
Your tagline is your brand promise.
This is where you plant your flag and claim your place.
What are the consequences and what happens to consumer trust when you don’t live up to your promise?
The outcome is pretty obvious—you lose. You lose customers, you lose money, and sometimes you lose your business.
There’s only one grocery store in my small town. Their tagline is, “When it comes to value and freshness, you can’t beat XYZ.” People say if you buy a tomato you better eat it on the way home because it will be rotten if you wait any longer. They don’t deliver on their freshness promise, they deliver rotten tomatoes. Everyone knows the produce is awful but we like the convenience and we trust the beer is cold so we shop there for items that won’t rot on the five block trip back home. This place stays in business because they’re the only grocery store within a 30 minute drive. When you’re the only game in town you can deliver your version of rotten tomatoes and survive. Think cable providers.
Consumer loyalty is a cost benefit risk assessment. Low dollar, low risk purchases require far less trust. Like pizza and rotten tomatoes, we give retailers of items we purchase regularly at relatively low cost more latitude if a business fails to deliver on their brand promise. Sometimes, we’ll give them second, third, and fourth chances.
Initial trust is necessary on higher ticket prices with a high perceived risk. Do you suppose there are many people who will buy the exact same car if they got a lemon the first go round? How crazy would it be to hire a financial planner you didn’t like or trust? Will you stay loyal to your insurance agency if they repeatedly fail to pay your claims or will you switch companies when your current guy falls on his face?
| To this day my mom will not buy Tylenol because in 1982 seven people died from taking potassium cyanide laced capsules. The company was not responsible but her trust was forever gone. For her, the risk is too high. (FYI, this incident led to federal anti-tampering laws and all the extra precautions and safety seals on packaging.) |
You can probably name a dozen companies who consistently deliver on their brand promise. Amazon Prime and their insanely quick delivery is a perfect example. You can also probably name a bunch of other companies who fail to deliver. Like the grocery store in my neighborhood.
When you make a brand promise you must deliver. Look at your organization, the company culture, any extenuating circumstances which may cause you to fail to deliver. The fifteen year old kid who slid that burnt pizza in a box and sent it out for delivery either doesn’t care or doesn’t know about the brand promise you made to me. This is part of your marketing bridge.
Companies who deliver the goods become legendary brands. What inspires someone to “just do it” and get a Nike tattoo?
I know a guy with a Harley tattoo who doesn’t even own a car. These guys are such strong, passionate promoters of a brand they literally tattooed themselves. This goes beyond just know, like, and trust—this is love!
P.S. No one has a tattoo from the horrible grocery store in my town.
Mid-West Family has a pretty long track record of helping local brands create their brand promise and amplify their message to build a loyal following. If you’re interested in learning what we can do for you, reach out. We can’t guarantee a tattoo, but we can guarantee people will get to know, like, and trust you!
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