How to Break Down the Excuse Wall and Win

“Change Happens When You Run Out of Excuses”

I don’t know who to attribute this quote to. I saw it written on the wall at my gym the other day. As I reflected on the statement, I realized its power and broad-reaching relevance.

Believe me, being in the digital branding business, we know all about excuses. People seem to have thousands of reasons why something can’t be so, and why a decision can’t possibly be made today: “We don’t have time. It’s not a priority. It costs too much money. We don’t have the right team on the bus. We have to do these other things first.”…And on and on and on.  Excuses.

A big part of a brand’s messaging and content involves helping prospects work through their mental list of “excuses” when it comes to your product or service.

Try This Excuse Exercise

Try this exercise, which is also effective if you have some new sales people on board who are running into the Excuse Wall for the first time. List the top 20 excuses that prospects have given you in the last 90 days for electing to not go forward with a purchase or engagement. Then, see if you can come up with a compelling response to each one.

Every brand-prospect interaction is game. Either the brand convinces the customer that he or she needs to make a purchase or investment; or, the customer convinces the brand representative that now is simply not the right time to buy. Who will win? By working through the Excuse Wall exercise, you will arm your sales and service personnel with powerful responses that will help your brand win more often. Plus, your answers represent great content points for your next 20 blog posts.

Speaking of change, is it time to refresh your brand? Delia Associates is here to help with The Brand Leadership Solution, our proprietary approach to systematic brand development.

10 Signs that Brand Revitalization is Right for You.

We need to work on our brand if:

1. Our image does not authentically portray who we are, or who we aspire to be as an organization, solution, or brand.
2. Our image does not reflect our status as an industry leader. We can do more to leverage existing brand attributes to earn broader recognition.
3. Our brand communications are too self-centered. We need a more customer-focused approach that answers the question, “What’s in it for them (the customer)?”
4. Our current image makes us look small and ill-equipped to compete for larger engagements, orders or opportunities
5. Our brand name or identity has been portrayed in a negative fashion. We need to re-affirm our positive attributes.
6. Our company, due to acquisition or growth, now includes multiple related brands, sub-brands, service groups or product sectors; we need to determine the right brand architecture to align and arrange the various entities
7. Target audiences don’t appreciate our brand’s full range of benefits, or are struggling to accurately understand the deliverables, potential, and value we provide
8. Our brand image is dated, and needs to be refreshed to portray a more “today” organization, product or solution.
9. Our brand image is used inconsistently in various communications formats (web, print, advertising, etc.). We need to establish unique brand elements, visuals and messaging that can be applied uniformly to all marketing activities.
10. We’re about to celebrate a major company milestone (24, 50, 60 or 100 years), and the timing is right to debut a new brand image.

About The Author

We specialize in b2b, supporting the clients who are the "The Brands Behind the Brands." These are the supply chain partners of brands, either in Tier 1 or Tier 2 positions, who drive value through the delivery of goods, services and technologies. We enjoy blogging about all things related to Branding, Marketing, Inbound, Tradeshows, etc... And we're always happy to talk about any ideas you may have that might Get You To Your NEXT!