What are your competitors’ brand stories?

I’m not suggesting that you should be paranoid, but every now and then, it’s worthwhile to take a look over your shoulder and see what your competition is doing. You want to see what types of marketing activities they are engaged in, what events they are attending and, in general, just how they present themselves. Did they suddenly tell customers they could be followed on Twitter?

This isn’t a passive game. You should actively compare the brand stories they are telling to your own. Put yourself in the place of a potential customer – who would you be more likely to do business with when you visit either company’s web site?

How do they describe themselves? Are they using the same language as you? When you visit their web site, is it clear what they are offering customers? Now take a look at your own site. Is it clear what you are offering customers?

Sometimes, it’s helpful to take a look in the mirror to see who you are and how you might be perceived. Sometimes, though, it’s helpful to sneak a peek over the neighbor’s fence.

Is your brand trustworthy?

I attended a local networking meeting last week. The first question was an innocuous sounding, “So how is your business faring?”

The ensuing discussion lasted 20 minutes and had very little to do with the state of everyone’s businesses and everything to do with the state of the economy, the state of housing prices, the state of the auto industry, buying American versus buying foreign goods, working from home versus working in an office, small businesses versus larger businesses. When there was a short pause in the discussion, I observed that the unifying theme came down to… TRUST.

There is a fundamental lack of trust in the system as a whole at the moment – at least in the perceptions of this group. I mean, what is cash, credit, a purchase order or an invoice if not an example of transactional trust. In fact, what is your BRAND if not a stand-in for trust that you can and will deliver the products and services you offer at the highest level of quality?

So what does this mean for your brand story? Well, it means that before you attempt to educate and sell your products or services, you MUST invest some time and effort in gaining the TRUST of your customers, prospects or partners. This may sound obvious, but I’ll bet you are not continuing to demonstrate the trust that you have developed – especially with current customers.

Think about what makes your brand trustworthy. What stories demonstrate this trustworthiness? What metrics measure your ability to establish and strengthen trust?

Because, until we begin strengthening trust, we’re not going to grow.

Did you hear me say what I think I said?

We tend to like to see things as black and white, night and day, wrong and right. But there is an entire spectrum of perception between two absolutes. And given that, is it wrong to think that a story you’ve told – or the positioning statement, the speaking notes, the message points – could be misunderstood?

We like to think that we are in control of our messages. We like to think that, when we say something, the person we are communicating with hears and understands every nuance of our message. But it is very rarely the case. And if you have children, you know that it is almost never the case.

So given the gulf between what you’ve said and what the person you are communicating with understood you to say – what are you to do?

Simple. Ask.

Ask for feedback. Ask for a response. Ask the other person to repeat what he or she has heard. I think this is why consumer generated content (a term I dislike, but I don’t have another handy) is so powerful for marketers. This is the metric for our work. This is how we truly learn whether the communication that we have so thoughtfully crafted actually contains shared understanding.

So, leave me a comment and let me know whether you understand what I’m saying.