Why try to make your brand look bigger?
You’re familiar with the struggle; you research, you prepare, you make the perfect pitch, your prospect is impressed, but then you hear hesitation in their voice. Not because they don’t like or believe in your product or service but because they are concerned about delivery. You have a great team who work hard, yes, everyone wears multiple hats, but you know they can pull off the project you're pitching. So how do you convey your confidence in your team to your prospect? One way to do this is to make your brand look bigger, but again, how?
How to make your brand look bigger:
Think about who is featured on your website. It might seem like a fun, cool idea to feature your entire team on your site with mini bios, quotes and those typical things you see on a “Meet the Team” page, and this is certainly worthwhile for a small business. But if your goal is to make your organization look bigger, then consider only featuring your top-level leadership team on your site.
Take a look at your email addresses. Are you using just a first name @saidcompany.com? If so, you may want to consider changing email addresses to firstname.lastname or firstinitial.lastname @saidcompany.com.
Be active on every social network and showcase your culture. Ensuring you have a social media presence on all platforms will build credibility. Put time and effort into building up your following on these platforms by engaging with your audience in a meaningful way. Post about your team and your company culture - showcasing your team and culture on social media doesn't just help with recruitment, it helps with sales! If a prospect sees a happy engaged team in company photos and even better, sees them commenting on and liking those photos, they are more likely to buy from you. Remember - people buy from people!
Spread the exposure. If one person is doing every interview, filling every guest spot on partner blogs and podcasts, you are going to look smaller. If you have a senior leadership team then consider sharing some of the owner’s limelight with them. It will build external trust and confidence in other company leaders. Be strategic about which opportunities are passed off to other leaders - remember your CEO or owner is still the face of your brand.
Invest in press releases. With the right copy, press releases are relatively easy and simple to do, and the cost is worth it. Make sure the article is appropriate for publishing this way.
Create a client welcome package. As part of the onboarding process, most companies will send each client a welcome gift when they sign a contract. Larger companies will send a welcome pack complete with branded merchandise and informational printed material. Make the branded merchandise you include usable and not something junky that will just get thrown away. A thoughtful welcome package helps to build loyalty - remember that loyalty is a key stage of your buyer's journey.
Use “We” not “I”. If you've always been a one person shop, or a small business with only a few employees, you may be used to saying “I” simply because you do so many things yourself, but make a conscious effort to get into the habit of saying “we” instead, your business will instantly sound more mature and this sets you up for future growth if you're still in that start-up stage. Remember - old habits die hard, so do this as early on as possible.
Have a careers page. Even if you’re not actively recruiting right now, show clients you have a team and demonstrate the ability to expand that team by dedicating a page of your website to careers. What you display on this page should speak to your company culture, or the culture you one day aspire to have, and give your audience an idea of what life is like at your company.
Be strategic about your availability. Making yourself available all of the time gives the impression you have no other clients and are desperate for business. Try to balance your availability. Instead of saying you're available "anytime", provide your clients or potential clients with a few different options when it comes to connecting. If you're using a platform which syncs to your calendar for clients to book time with you then be sure to reflect this advice in there.
Invest in your marketing. We’ve mentioned websites, social media, press releases, and welcome packages in this article, but holistically look at your marketing - the world today is digital and if you’re not keeping things consistent and living up to expected standards then you're not investing enough resources into your brand.
Keep It Authentic
Remember your goal here is not to deceive, but build trust with your audience, so above all else keep it authentic, if someone asks you about your company's size, tell the truth!
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