Many of our B2B services clients grapple with the push and pull of the two types of brands which naturally exist within their environment. Some key questions they face: What is the value of the organization’s brand versus their own personal brand (or capabilities)? Which dominates? Which has more value? Which should be the priority? And how should they coexist? Or shouldn’t they?
Our discussions with leaders at franchisees/ors, professional services, technology services and financial firms easily gravitate to this debate – whether we’re talking branding, marketing or sales support.
We see four facets that all organizations should consider in their discussions about their brands:
Organizational vs. Personal Brands in the Sales Process
“No one ever got fired for hiring IBM or McKinsey.”
The umbrella of a well-known brand creates expectations of quality, capability and depth. It can be marketed more easily and cost-effectively to larger groups, and, by virtue of the confidence the brand inspires, there is an assumption of lower risk in partnering with it. It is a door opener, a primer and a security blanket all rolled into one.
The conundrum starts in later stages of the purchase process, when the client starts to base buying decisions primarily on personal interaction with individuals or teams. The key strategy is to identify exactly when individual relationships surpass the organization brand attributes as the primary buying driver.
Knowing when and if the organization’s brand needs to switch roles to support the individual (or vice versa) is an essential business decision, and the programs manage this transition effectively must be in place in both the sales process and the resulting client management strategy.
Portability of Clients
First, this is a business strategy decision, based on replaceability of skill sets, the nature of the services provided, the buying behavior of clients and the expectations that are set out early in the relationship.
Secondly, it factors in teams and creating leverage models that act to disperse the dependency (and relationships) away from the individual. This model requires the focus, programs, training and right people to ensure implementation. Our view is that companies who cannot deliver on these programs risk placing relevancy and loyalty more squarely on the individual.
Growth Objectives
Where are you building your equity, and why? What value do your people bring to that equity, whether you’re growing it for profitability, for a sale of the business or some monetization event? Most businesses – especially smaller ones – don’t have this clarity up front; rather, it develops over time. We believe that any company must decide early on what its ‘end game’ will be, thereby ensuring clarity of decision-making related to the brand strategy.
Skepticism and Credibility
According to a recent survey by the global public-relations company Edelman, confidence in companies and organizations is at an all-time low. Organizational credibility – and therefore the value and credibility of organization brands – is being replaced by confidence in individuals, peers and “people like me.” CEOs and the senior leadership of companies have less credibility and therefore less power to influence the buying decision.
In our view, this shift has a serious impact on the outcome of the brand debate. If the individual is becoming more important as an influencer, how do organizational brands leverage this driver for their benefit? And what is their increasing responsibility to the individuals themselves to ensure that the umbrella under which they operate is aligned to their needs?
For the Future
We think these four factors will sway the discussions most significantly in smaller organizations, creating in many cases (if it does not already exist) more of a brand franchisee/franchisor relationship. One potential result is that organizations will redouble their efforts to ensure that the organizational and personal brands are consistent and indistinguishable through internal alignment and activation programs.
A survey of 91 senior B2B marketing executives in Canada and the US reports that focusing on building a total client experience, defining new relationships and ensuring satisfaction are taking priority over new client acquisition for a majority of B2B companies.
It will be a difficult climb for some organizations. Low sales and marketing integration and a lack of client satisfaction plague more than a third of the companies surveyed. The fastest movers will hold significant advantage during and after the economic debacle. Additionally, a goal of marketing up-leveling its status has also accelerated the need to move more quickly into “retain and delight” mode.
decipher conducted an online survey in late 2008 across multiple B2B industries. This also included speaking to senior marketers in follow-up conversations. Based on the results, deecipher predicts some new and accelerating marketing changes for the B2B sector:
Read the full report here