Make a Great First Impression – May is “International Business Image Improvement Month”

Pleasant Hill, CA (April 2005) – You know the old saying that “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” The saying is just as true in business as it is in personal relationships. In business, your image is your brand. People are quick to make judgments based on their first impression of your brand, so you need to do everything you can to make yours a good one. Because May is “International Business Image Improvement Month,” now is a perfect time to plan a strategy to improve your company’s brand and make a great first impression, gaining you the customer and brand loyalty that will raise you above the competition.
Strategic marketing consultant Dennis Flynn helps business leaders identify the branding challenges of tomorrow and shows them how to leave a lasting impression and stay in the game. In his book, Brand Clout: Maintaining Relevance and Profitability Amidst Constant Change (Cameo Publications, $17.95, ISBN 0-9744149-5-6), Flynn offers “the ten rules of continuous relevance,” which will help business leaders make the necessary changes to make a great first impression on their customers, moving their brands to the top of the pile and gaining customer loyalty.
To improve your business’s image or your brand’s image, you need to “think outside the brand.” You can do this by focusing on customers’ needs and then delivering what they want. Flynn has helped many major companies become leaders in their industry by utilizing the Sonar© Model, a template for strategic thinking. It enables companies to 1) evaluate and reconfigure assets for more powerful business outcomes; 2) develop new perspectives on existing and upcoming alliance opportunities; 3) create increased leverage of brand options for competitive advantage; 4) create a process for evaluating and identifying technologies that are and will be critical in achieving competitive advantage.
So during May and throughout the rest of the year, plan your strategy of how you can improve your business or brand’s image. Take the steps to make your business or product stand out from the competition. Not only will you make a great first impression on your customers, but you will also create a lasting impression that will keep them coming back to you for more.
Dennis Flynn is a consultant and founder of The Sonar Group, a strategic consulting firm. The Sonar Group is dedicated to helping CEOs and their leadership teams refine, revitalize, and refocus their organizations by concentrating on business and brand modeling and strategy to successfully compete for the future.
For more information, a review copy of Brand Clout: Maintaining Relevance and Profitability Amidst Constant Change, or an interview with the author, please call 866-372-2636 or send an email to Amy@cameopublications.com.

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