Part II: CONSISTENCY - Logos, Branding, and Service with a Smile

The concept of consistency is an often repeated one for business owners. When a business is in it's beginning stages, most owners develop a name and a logo. This is an essential step to helping the business take those first intial baby steps towards success. According to smallbusiness.com:

"As the company's major graphical representation, a logo anchors a company's brand and becomes the single most visible manifestation of the company within the target market." 

 A logo is not the only important part of consistency, but service also matters when it comes to success of the business. Service includes packaging of the product, employees, and even how owners treat their customers. Many business owners often skip some of these important values, and are unaware of how detrimental it can be to their business! CBS.com reports:

"Being consistent with what you sell seems like an obvious priority, but it's not always the case, again especially with smaller companies. It's not unusual to see avoidable and even sloppy variations in quality, service, packaging and more. "

Let's look at logos and branding a bit more closely.  

Part II: Logo & Branding 

A logo, also called "branding," is very important to a company, because it creates the "face" of the company. Graphical representation provides information that makes our brain skip a few steps in retrieving information about the company. For example, what's your first thought when you see a check mark? What about this check mark:

For many of us, this represents the company Nike, locally owned and run in Portland, Oregon, and the shoes and other sports material it represents. The Nike symbol is stamps on everything they produce, from socks, shoes, to balls, bats, backpacks, and other items. But it also sparks an emotional response for those that see it: the freedom of a run, the highlight of hitting the ball out of the park on a home run. A logo can be beneficial not only for products and advertising, but also to help the customer obtain a desire to the use the product.


If we switch to a local product, observe this logo:

 For the last 10 years, our community has seen this logo on a local shack that has gained popularity for it's pulled meats and homemade sausages. A few years ago, this logo was displayed on their new restaurant. To everyone that favorites Wubba's, when they drive down S. 6th, they not only see a BBQ diner, but salivate at the thought of pulled pork, ribs, sausage, a French Dip, or a fresh mixed margarita.  Wubba's might not illicit this type of response without their consistant branding of their large red and yellow sign! (Check out their mouth watering menu here: www.wubbsbbqshack.com)


As logos are an essential part of business, the lack of consistency in the logo can often kill a business. Plain text or signs that lack appropriate colors can often make the business unattractive to customers. For example, if you were driving down the road and saw a sign for an Italian restaurant, and the colors were red, green, and white, you associate those colors (of the Italian flag) with Italian food. But, if the sign was pink, blue, and yellow, you might wonder just what kind of food they served. 


This applies to not only restaurants, but also professional offices. Imagine what our world would be like if realtors, instead of basic house-shapes on their sign, used a pizza clip art. How inclined would you be to trust them with your future house? Would you go to a doctor who had a soda on their sign for a logo? Keep your logo and branding in mind when you create one. And spread the love - put it on your sign, your business cards, your letterheads, and your envelopes. Consistency is key!

Consistent Service With A Smile!

No one likes to see a grumpy-puss behind the desk or counter of your favorite business. We have all seen that "one person" who obviously didn't want to come into work today! (And for some reason, these people often work in the medical field!) There's nothing less welcoming than the dreaded trip to the dentist, and the receptionist is scowling, and frowns at you while you fill out your paperwork. Feeling anxious yet? She's about to make you feel more uncomfortable! Have you ever gone to McDonalds and the person taking your order was less than thrilled about it? It's not a surprise that you get the Mcchicken when you ordered the Big Mac!

As a business owner, whether you run a busy medical office, a restaurant, or a product center, it's important to keep and eye out for your consistent service. Be the business owner that motivates your employees to treat your customers right, and every time they greet the customers. If you aren't aware of what your front desk and counter is doing, the reputation of your business could be at risk. In a small town, reputation  can be the difference between keeping your doors open!

(On the flip side, be the consumer that understand bad things happen to good people! Sometimes the grumpy waitress ran late and is worried about their sick kids at home. Leave and extra tip and a clean dining area, and watch her frown turn upside down!)

Keep in mind that consistency doesn't have boring, or make your employees unhappy. Think of consistency as a map to success for your business. CBS says it best:

"Put to best use, [consistency] is a road map for each area of your business, but it's a road with very wide shoulders. It is possible -- and desirable -- to be extremely consistent without stifling creativity, discouraging individuality, or eliminating personal judgment and responsibility. Consistency and flexibility are not mutually exclusive; a band can perform the same song a hundred different ways while staying true to the distinctive sound that its fans expect."

 You may be the only band in town, or you may be a band among many. What makes you unique and stand out? Your connections, your consistency, or your concepts?


Check back next week for our continuing discussion on concepts and what sets your business apart from everyone else!

For more info, see these articles we found:

(http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-logos-business-577.html)

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505143_162-57374851/how-consistency-touches-every-area-of-your-business/

Part I: CONSISTENCY - Using Social Media

A few weeks ago, we introduced the concept of the 3 C's: Connection, Consistency, and Concepts. This week we would like to cover the topic of consistency. And, just so you don't have to fiddle with that annoying back button on your browser, here is a review of consistency:

Consistency - if you post hours you're going to be open, be open, or utilize social media to explain why you have to close. Also,  ensure that the logo, motto, service, and products always go above and beyond.

This is a two-parter. Part One:  consistency with business hours, and using social media to your full advantage. Part Two: logo, motto, service, and product consistency.


Consistency has become such an issue with small business, that CBS has even dedicated pages to this issue:

The importance of consistency in business seems so basic as to not need discussion. Yet many companies -- especially smaller ones -- operate in a day-by-day, case-by-case fashion that is disorganized, undisciplined and certainly inefficient. 

CBS reports on products, employees, service, and operations, and growth. We're going to look at some simple steps you can take to achieve consistency. And, because we don't want to bore you (stifle that yawn!) we will only be discussing business hours & social media is this part. See Part II for logos, mottos, and service consistency.  

Part 1: Business Hours, Social Media, & You

Business Hours

In our previous post, we demonstrated the need for CONNECTION with your customers and other businesses. Connecting via social media is important not only for contests and specials, but also to let your customers know when and even why you must close during normal business hours. 

Make the best use of social media by advertising
your business hours, including unexpected closures!

Your customers count on consistent business hours. Sometimes they are running late for lunch, and stop by after 2pm. Many customers are first timers, solicited by your sign on an impulse purchase, and stop in after 5pm on their way home from work. It's important that they know that you are going to be open when you say you are going to be open. When a business is closed during their reported business hours, it makes customers question the dependability. Often, they will go somewhere else, and you have lost an important client. Even worse, the word of mouth in a small town like Klamath can be detrimental to the business as a whole. 

For family run or small businesses, sometimes emergencies occur and business must close their doors. Often, there is little time to place a hastily written sign on the front door for customers that may not be connected with you on your social media site. However, if your business is already connected with social media, make and effort to communicate to your customers a statement of why and when you will close and reopen. 

Here is an example of a local business that used this principle to it's fullest:

Indian Hurry Curry

Check out their facebook page for
daily specials here:  
https://www.facebook.com/41frederick) 

Raksha Chhotu, owner of local business Indian Hurry Curry, arrived to her store one morning to find it was flooded after a recent heavy storm. Knowing she would soon have her usual lunch rush, she quickly posted on Facebook that her store had flooded and she would be closed for the rest of the day. When she reopened, her customers waited in line for her to open to get their "curry fix" that they had missed the day before. There was little to no complaints, and that day she nearly ran out of food for all the customers that had to wait an entire day for their favorite dishes! Raksha's quick and consistent use of social media to connect her hours & specials with her customers turned her business from closed into a thriving busy place in just a few  
                                                                                       days! 


No matter what you prefer, from social media to the handwritten personal sign, the consistency in your business hours can make all the different to your customers. It only take a few minutes to show the customers you care about their business, by reaching out to them via your electronic device. It will keep your customers coming back for more. 





For more on business consistency, check out the article at CBS.com:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505143_162-57374851/how-consistency-touches-every-area-of-your-business/


Read  Part Two Here: http://the13thfloorkf.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=E2mctzgBAAA.a0tZoFs4MOQXaNVV3rWPlw.d4IMiwIfu8cw_SIWVqtpIA&postId=1551194131794155914&type=POST 

GET CONNECTED

Our staff took a much needed mini vacation to brush up on our business knowledge. Sorry about missing our blog last week, but the sand, surf, and lectures called us away! 

So, after a few responses to our last blog entry, we decided to expand on our 3 C's of Business concept. This week we will focus on CONNECTION, and in the following weeks we will look at CONSISTENCY and CONCEPTS.

How is your business connected to the customers? Whether you encourage customer to review your business with yelp!, or a social media like Facebook or Twitter, staying connected with customer is important to business survival.

If your business doesn't have a web presence yet, consider how easy and (usually!) free it can be to start promoting your business online. Here's a quick reference on how to start up your own social media site:

1. What kind of contact do you want to make with your customers?

2. Do you want to share pictures?

3. Do you want to share a long story, or a quick blurb?

4. Do you want only limited information?

Depending on your answer to these questions, there is a different social media out there for you. Of course, the first step is to research the social media before you sign up for an account. It's important to consider not only what TYPE of social media, but also, how many people are networked into it. For an example, MySpace may not be the best tool for advertising! Find a social media that you are also comfortable using. If it's difficult to share photos and hard to navigate their site, don't waste your time. Social media sites should be easy to use and not cluttered or complicated. This makes it easier for you to post on it, and easier for your customers to find your items and posts.

Now, you may be wondering, "What is the difference between all these sites? Aren't they all the same?"

The answer is yes AND no. While each social media site can be used for business and do function in much of the same ways, each one is unique, and focuses on different aspects of your business. In this entry, we are only going to focus on "the big 3" of social media: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. But there are certainly others out there that you may try - social media can open new doors to your business you maybe have thought was either too expensive or too hard to accomplish. Leave us a comment on your favorite social media site!

If you would like to type up to a paragraph, and include a picture, or run a contest, consider using Facebook. With over 3 billion members, they are certainly well networked, and their simple interface is easy to use. Some examples are: small business, restaurants, and day cares, in order to share pictures and run specials.

If you like sharing with your consumers short (less than 100 characters) coupons, advertisements, or business updates, Twitter is a great way to get them connected to your business. Some examples are: mobile businesses like salons and bakers

If you want to share videos of your product, such as set up and quality of design, then YouTube might be for you. Some examples are: construction and home improvement, gardens/nurseries, political agendas.

For those of you that need some social media in your business life, go off and create your account, and good luck. If you already have a web presence and are working on promoting your business, we would like to talk to you now. 

Yes, YOU! The one who always shares their burger special, offers discounts for mentioning their post, or takes the time to edit a video for upload - keep up the good work! Sometimes, uploading that photo or sharing your special can seem very time consuming, but it is worth it for the extra customers that it brings in. Much of the world is very CONNECTED today, and without your connection to others, your business will have a hard time thriving. With that in mind, here's some simple rules of ettiquette for your social media site:

1. There is such a thing as "too much posting." Utilize Folders for your photos: Chances are, after the 100th post of your flowers or steaks, customer may start to 'hide' your posts, which limits what they can see in the future. Instead of sharing a lot of photos, put them in an album or folder, and share the entire thing. That way, customer don't get overloaded with too much information.

2. Pictures are ESSENTIAL. Unless you run the local honey bucket company, visual stimulants are imperative to your product. Your customer may skip your text-only special unless you entice them with an enticing picture of your special. A picture speaks a thousand words, and on the internet, it speaks even more. So post away with snapshots of your delectable items!

3. Typos are the fastest way to start an argument. Proof read and edit your post, and, if possible, have someone else at the business double-check it as well. Customers typically won't be afraid to point out any errors, which sparks a debate that leads away from the discussion about your product. It also goes without saying, if you use bad grammar and spelling intentionally, it doesn't look very professional to maybe consumers, who may end up skipping your business entirely.

Whether you are new to social networking or a veteran from those long-ago days of MySpace (lol), continue making your business connected to the outside world. It's not just locals that sample your goods, but people from out of town and from different states and even countries! In a small town like ours, CONNECTION can mean everything.