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Creating Certainty in Uncertain Times, Part 2: Define Your Brand

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I think this year has pushed all of us to our limits.

Coronavirus. Lockdowns. Record unemployment. A global recession. Fires. Floods. Oh yeah, and it’s an election year. 

But we’re here now. While we can’t change reality, we can absolutely change how we see things and how we deal with challenge.

This series is all about creating certainty – in sales, recruiting, and cash flow.

You need to build a sales and recruiting engine that powers your company, enables your salespeople and recruiters to achieve greater results (without incessant cold calling), and strengthens your business so that you thrive in the months and years to come. 

Not sure where to start? I’ll walk you through the steps you need to take – if you missed my last post, start there!

Related Posts in This Series:

Creating Certainty in Uncertain Times, Part 1: Define Your Positioning 

How to build your sales and recruiting engine

Step 2: Define your brand 

If I called 10 of your clients and asked them to tell me about your company, what would they say? Would I hear the same, clear message over and over again? 

Branding is not about your logo or your colors or your website. It’s not about how visible you are on social media or how aggressively you sell (although all of these things are part of branding). 

Branding is about clearly defining how you want to be seen. And then ensuring that message permeates everything you do. 

Branding starts with a definition of your company values, mission and vision. That then gets translated into a list of key differentiators, a positioning statement, and a value proposition (collectively referred to as your messaging). 

Your messaging then gets integrated into your corporate identity, website, sales collateral, and the processes you use to sell and service your clients and candidates. 

Ideally, your brand will be highly unique.

You will definite your value, service offerings and differentiators in a way that no other company can match. But unfortunately, that ideal is simply not feasible for most staffing companies. 

The harsh reality is that for most staffing and recruiting firms, there is no way to create a brand that is so unique that there is no one else in the world exactly like you. 

When you can’t be 100% unique, what can you do? 

I have a good friend from graduate school who has an answer. His name is Chris Malone, and he is the Chairman of a company called Fidelum Partners. Chris worked for companies like Procter and Gamble, Coca Cola, ARAMARK, Choice Hotels, and the National Basketball Association. 

Chris is also co-author of an award-winning book: The HUMAN Brand: How We Relate to People, Products & Companies.

In this book, Chris describes two key attributes that are essential for branding: warmth and competence.

Warmth is about showing people that you care. You care for your clients. You care for your candidates. You care for your local community and broader social interests. In today’s world, people what to work for (and work with) companies that care…companies that demonstrate warmth to others. 

Competence is about being good at what you do. It’s about your knowledge, experience, and proven processes. It’s about the awards you have won, the problems you know how to solve, and the social proof (testimonials and reviews) of the value you deliver. 

When developing the brand for your staffing company, you want to clearly define the characteristics of your business that demonstrate your warmth and competence. 

Up Next: Building Visibility & Authority

Now that you’re able to define your business, how do you get the word out? My next post will walk through the process – but if you can’t wait until then, check out the full article here!

 

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