Image isn’t everything, but it is an important part of the mix
CRAFTING AN IMAGE OF A CUSTOMER-CENTRIC COMPANY isn’t as easy as it used to be. Today’s consumer doesn’t want warm and fuzzy campaigns telling him why a company is great — he wants proof.
DIRECT talked with some marketing communications specialists to get their take on the importance of company image in building customer relationships.
“People are more demanding and they expect you to talk to them in ways that are relevant,” says Chet Dalzell, director of public relations for Billerica, MA-based Harte-Hanks.
Customers, like businesses, perceive the value of good information exchanges, he continues. “You know as a customer when a company gets it. They know how to have a dialogue with you, as opposed to just marketing to you.”
Rosalie Harris, head of Chicago’s Creative Solutions and public relations consultant for the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing, notes that while image is important, identity is perhaps even more vital. A corporate image is imposed on a company. “Images come and go and can confuse a customer,” she says. Identity, meanwhile, is more permanent. “The way an organization starts out is usually the way it is. McDonald’s is Ray Kroc. Identity comes from the heart.”
Harris says she sees more companies trying to show they have “heart” by integrating public relations initiatives into their overall image plans that give something back to the community. This is key, she says, because of the emotional component of image and identity.
Connie LaMotta, president of LaMotta Strategic Communications, New York, agrees. “The only way you’re going to get loyalty is if people realize there is humanity behind the corporate wall — that there really are people there who will help them get what they want. Image is more important now than ever.”
But you have to be able to back up that image with real service. Customers have been getting savvier for decades, Dalzell says. Any benchmark in service — like when L.L. Bean introduced 24-hour ordering — leads to customers expecting more from everyone. But, he cautions, companies shouldn’t make promises they can’t deliver on. “Know your own house is in order first,” he says.
Faux Pas
But what should a company do when it makes a public relations misstep? How can it avoid having its tarnished image lead to damaged customer relationships?
Shaken customer confidences are difficult to repair, admits Dalzell, noting that the best way to resolve a problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Harte-Hanks, for example, has teams in place to address compliance issues internally before they become external problems. Systems are created to avoid doing things like sending out an e-mailing that could be conceived as spam or sending out customer information unencrypted.
Suzanne Porter-Kuchay, director of public relations for Entigo Corp., a Vienna, VA-based B-to-B software company, offers an example of just that. When she was with Group 1 Software, the company had to scramble to get changes into its product to comply with new postal rates. Because of the short timeframe, Group 1 and its competitors ended up going to market with bugs. Group 1 worked to get the fixes done quickly and kept in communication with its customers, “who were happy the company was committed to helping them.” But in times of trouble, companies should definitely have a crisis plan and appoint one spokesperson to address the problems in a clear, forthright manner, she says.
A Matter of Trust
As the economy gets tighter, all agree that image is getting more important. “People want to be more careful about where they spend their dollars,” says Porter-Kuchay, noting that companies are doing more listening up front to deliver the solutions customers want in the first place. “Image is key to getting the customer — and getting them to recommend you to others.”
“Of course,” says LaMotta, “image alone is not enough.” Actual experience always matters most to a consumer, but word of mouth and good image help make people who have had a bad experience give a company another try. “Image,” she says, “is really about establishing trust.”
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