What You Can Do To Improve Your Brand And Save Money Doing So!
Brand control is an essential component to a successful business. A consistent brand helps to maintain and improve, not only the brand itself, but the company; solidifying your company’s reputation and image, to customers and colleagues alike. Perhaps, too often, companies do not have a firm grasp on their brand, and develop inconsistencies that are not positive.
Where does your business fall when it comes to brand control?
Think about ways your company brand is strong.
Step one… do you have a uniform logo and designated color scheme?
Step two, are these guidelines followed by all your departments and locations?
Step three, what about the smaller details?
Are all of your printed materials the same across locations?
Do the brochures and business cards in Houston look the same as in Detroit?
Step four goes much deeper, how are your “systems and processes”?
When a new hire is on-boarded, do they receive a “Welcome” package in San Diego, but just a temporary name tag in Boston?
Allowing locations and departments to make their own branding decisions, even those as simple as company letterhead, is not only costly, it loses control of the company brand. Not having a way to consolidate orders across the company makes keeping a uniform image nearly impossible.
Customers rely on recognizing your brand for future business to occur, so uniform branding across the board helps your company appear more organized and trustworthy. A good brand reputation goes much further than your logo standards, and becomes a key factor for businesses growth
While things like company letterhead or giveaway promotional items may seem like minor details, they are a key component to successful branding and should be uniform across locations. Giveaways and promotional items should also complement what your company does, rather than contradict it. (i.e. If you sell health foods, giving out candy and cookie tins at the holidays may not be the best way to promote your business.)
Allowing individual locations or departments to make these decisions often allows too much room for mis-steps, which grows into a loss of brand control.
One of the easiest ways to maintain control of your company’s brand is by using a Online Company Store to manage and inventory all your branded supplies; print materials, logo items, apparel and uniforms, etc.
Having an “official” company store, like the ones offered through www.onlinecompanystores.com, allows you to create a unique online store, exclusively for your company. The products offered will be the exact same in both price and quality, regardless of which location is placing an order; and since orders can be done online every location and department can have access.
Additionally, only those employees you have given permission to spend money will be given access to the store, which prevents excess spending on supplies. Spending limits can be set up by person or department, with automatic manager chain-of-command routing for any special requests that arise.
Taking control of your company brand will take some up-front planning. But the time you invest will pay off significantly! You will save money, and your employees save time because they know where to go and what to order, no more reinventing the wheel when new projects come up.
Rush orders are reduced, because important items are kept in stock. You can even have your company store set up so that appropriate departments or individuals are notified any time an inventory item is low, or an order is placed. Building a Online Company Store is an easy, efficient way to gain total control of your brand, and also your budgets!
Contact us and request a Custom Company Store Demonstration.