Like it or not, every prospect you come in contact with will judge you in seconds based on your visual brand: your logo, website, marketing materials, advertising.

Your credibility is immediately apparent or it’s not!

So, how do you look?

A focused, memorable brand with consistent visuals and messaging speaks powerfully to your customers, resulting in a shorter and more productive sales cycle.

Consistency brings clarity and a sense familiarity. Familiarity encourages trust and credibility. Credibility builds strength and customer confidence.

If your logo, website and marketing materials don’t consistently reinforce your brand, customers will become confused by the mixed messaging, resulting in lost sales for you.

Do a brand audit of your own company:

Assess your logo, marketing materials and website for language, color and image consistency.

• Do you follow through on what you say or promise in your materials?
• Are your employees are all repeating the same message?
• Do you carry your look and theme through your office, store, employee uniforms, trucks, signage, etc.?
• Where and when do you advertise?

Of course your visual brand isn’t the only thing you’re judged on, but often it’s your target customer’s first impression of your company.

Next week we’ll focus on brand attitude and how your employees are doing. In the meantime, think of two recent employee-customer interactions, one where your employee shined and the customer was thrilled and another where the opposite happened and write down the three reasons why you think each interaction turned out the way it did.