daniel chigunwe
Clemence Mutembo
The relationship between sales and branding excites me so much. There is an amazing correlation between these two variables.
In other words, branding has such a powerful impact on sales.
I used to be one of the people that did not quite understand the term brand until I studied the concept of branding in my marketing studies. I used to think the term brand is the same with the term logo or product.
Brand building is the process of creating and cultivating a unique brand identity. This also involves creating a recognisable and unique name, logo and tagline for a company or product.
In addition to these tangible elements, brand building also involves creating and promoting the intangible qualities that a company or product represents. These can include things like dependability, quality and innovation.
The goal of brand building is to create a strong and positive impression of a company or product in the minds of consumers. Ultimately, this can lead to increased brand loyalty and profitability.
A brand is the total impact or overall impression from all that which is seen, felt ,heard or experienced by customers and stakeholders around your company, products and services.
A brand has three key elements namely:
Brand identifiers
Brand attributes
Brand associations
When you create a logo or register a company name, those two things are known as brand identifiers, they are tools used to represent the brand.
It is the collective impact of the underlying commercial activities that you will do that will deliver value to those identifiers. There is no value that will accrue to a logo or company name when you do not use it in the trading process.
Brand attributes are the distinct qualities and characteristics that you should be known for. For example, you will be known for good quality products or for being reliable.
Now, when we talk of associations in the context of branding, we mean the strength of the relationship between brand identifiers and attributes.
By associations, we may also mean what comes into the customers’ minds when they are exposed to any one of your brand identifiers.
The fight in brand building is to create a very powerful connection and an association between our brand identifiers and the attributes we desire.
Being able to convert potential customers into buying customers is one of the most important skills of any salesperson and branding has a role to play in this equation.
There are a number of very important sales aspects that anyone seeking sales success should understand and master when dealing with potential customers.
The primary and fundamental realisation by any salesperson should be that potential customers are seeking for solutions, value and benefits from their engagement with any brand.
When the customer reaches the company or salesperson, he or she is looking for ways through which they could have their needs satisfied.
A business should be a solution provider. Before a customer becomes a repeat purchase customer, they normally start off as a prospect or lead.
It is how the business engages with the prospect in the pre-transaction phase that could positively impact on the customer’s perception of the salesperson or brand.
Perception is a very powerful force, factor and influence that impacts on the potential customer ‘s behaviour. Do not send wrong impressions by being rough or rude to customers in any way.
When you start dealing with a qualified prospect, know how to present the features, advantages, value and benefits [F.A.V.B] to that potential customer.
Customers buy products for the value they wish to get from those products. Products must be carriers and embodiments of benefits sought by customers.
So when dealing with prospects, keep highlighting the value and benefits they will get and how their needs will be met by that product. If you do that, there are high chances that the customer will finally buy.
Clemence Mutembo is a high-impact customer experience and sales trainers and is reachable on 0778994 994
Bongani Ndlovu