Saturday, February 03, 2007 Companies need to invest in brand development to maintain customers
FOR local businesses to succeed, it should invest heavily into brand development and consumer satisfaction, said an official of a sales and marketing company.
“Don’t sell products, build the brand by selling experience and focusing on high-value customers,” said Bob Cheong Design of Canhers Pte. Ltd. Pinpoint Inc. (BCD-Pinpoint) founder and president Dickie Soriano during a business summit last Wednesday at the Tinder Box restaurant.
“A brand is more than just a name and a logo. It is the manifestation of all the thoughts, feelings and reactions that customers attribute to a particular product,” he said.
He said this is why investing in “customer referral” is the “fastest and cheapest way” to build the brand.
“Customer referral is the one number you need to grow,” he added.
According to Soriano, customers are the business’ best advertising agents, especially when they voluntarily refer your product or service to another individual.
Marketing
“It is important to take care of your staff and your customers because they become your own marketing department,” he said.
Soriano said there is a need for businessmen to also redefine their customer relationship management (CRM) if they want to attract and keep their customers.
According to the BCD-Pinpoint website, CRM is the process of establishing a close relationship between a brand and its customers.
As markets become more competitive, the importance of building a strong relationship between the brand and its consumers becomes a decisive factor of survival, Soriano said.
He also said the common mistake of today’s entrepreneurs is avoiding change.
“Don’t just stick to your comfort level because the market is always changing. Invest in change,” Soriano advised.
Julie’s Franchising Corp. (JFC), which manages the franchise of Julie’s Bakeshop, knows what it means to get out of comfort zones.
Change
“It was a major change for us,” Bobby Gandionco, JFC chief executive officer, said, referring to the company’s decision to open itself to franchising in 1999.
“But now, opening up more branches and maintaining the quality of our bread have become our own marketing strategy and brand development,” Gandionco said.
For this year alone, he said JFC will be opening 73 franchise outlets nationwide and about 1,000 branches in the next five years.
Established in 1988 BCD-Pinpoint is the only full-service CRM agency in the Philippines and the largest in Southeast Asia.
The firm’s clients range from retail, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, banking, insurance, information technology and real estate, among others.
Gandionco and Soriano were among the speakers at the business summit, hosted by Microsoft Philippines Inc. and Entrepreneur Magazine.
The summit will be held every month for the next six months. Each month will focus on a certain industry.
For January, the business summit highlighted the food and beverage industry. (MMM)
