Brighter Design Blog

How ASB missed a simple trick that confuses their customers everyday

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:09:00 GMT

Late in 2010 Droga5 did a fantastic job of rebranding ASB Bank. Despite the vastness of this task, no stone was left unturned in regard to brand application. The bank had a complete image overhaul from in-bank livery right down to the smallest in-bank detail - including all stationery, banking slips, deposit envelopes and fax headers.

However, there is one crucial item that was overlooked and ASB customers are confused every day because of this oversight. The look of the new cash cards. (Eftpos etc)

The appearance of any item needs to follow the purpose and use of that item. While the branding on these cards is consistent with the new look, it is their use has not been considered well enough.

Why? Because they all look identical.

Missing a design solution fit for purpose

Customers that have more than one card have a problem - they can't tell which one is which.

I, for example have 3 (credit, savings, and cash) and have while one is on the way out (it doesn't work in the local café or Whitcoulls eftpos machines). I have held on to it as it is silver and easily distinguishable.

When I went recently to get a new card I raised the observation with the teller. "Yes" she said, "we do get some cross people. They accidently spend money from accounts they didn't want to spend from."

"So, how will I distinguish this one from the other two", I asked.

"Well, you could write on it I suppose - lots of other customers do", she replied.

"Yes", was my response. "But I really shouldn't have to."

A simple visual demarkation of these cards would assist thousands of ASB customers to make transactions hassle-free, without error and without wasting time rustling around in handbags, wallets etc.

It was pointed out that ASB have the facility for customers to use a single card for all transactions, which would get around this problem.

This is a good work around but really customers shouldn't need to change their habits just because somebody dropped the ball on such a basic "form follows function" issue.

Brand Killers: how employees destroy your brand

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:04:00 GMT

Each morning while walking to the office I pass a ladies hair salon. A salon that seems to be completely dead. A salon that has more staff than customers, or so it seems.

Regardless of the time of day its always lacking the bustle of business and for a time I wondered why this was. It's got plenty of parking nearby, is visible for a lot of foot traffic and I assume they are reasonable value for money. So why the scarcity of folk?

The brand-crushing behaviour of the staff.

No, these staff are not being abusive to passers-by. Nor are they scruffily turned out. They are passive and well-dressed. But when they sit directly outside their place of business sitting with their feet on chairs smoking a cigarettes, brand alarm bells ring at a deafening volume.

Everything that salon owner has worked for in building a loyal clientele, being good value and giving stylish cuts goes up in smoke when its staff believe that being a brand ambassador is only a part-time job.

If your staff are visible they are liable. If they are liable you need to limit that liability. To limit that liability business owners need to recruit the right kind of people – even if it hurts.

The best brands are those who's employees are the brand. Not corporate value regurgitating simpletons but bright, intelligent, invested people who’s personal and moral values overlap that of the brand. Without this correlation of values between brand and employees, your brand will not endure.

How many vegetarians do you think work at McDonalds? I'd say none. If there are any, I don't think they're Loving It™. Because it is a conflict of values and therefore only a matter of time before they quit. And quitting costs money.

For big brands, staff turnover is a manageable reality of business. For the small business owner it is alway a blow and a significant cost: advertising, shortlisting, interviewing, training – it all costs in time, money and resources. So recruit the right people – those who share your beliefs and passions. Because it hurts even more if you recruit the wrong kind, directly in your wallet.

Richard Branson talks about the "Virgin" type of person.

Duke Stump stated that "it begins inside". To nurture and grow your brand on the inside so it may flourish on the outside.

Tony Hsieh of Zappos fame said "Your culture is your brand" and made a point of recruiting the right type of people by having all prospective staff follow the same 4 week induction (regardless of level) and offering them $2000 USD to quit after week 1 (to weed out those who just wanted a job).

These salon employees however were clearly recruited solely on their ability to turn up on time and cut hair. While that is a good start putting people off entering the salon in the first place rather negates that. They slouch about, grumbling to each other while raising their heads to blow smoke. The message I read when I pass is simply "I don't care".

The behaviour of your staff while in and around your place of business is always a brand statement. One that you need to manage carefully with clear boundaries because, if you let them, they can kill your brand stone dead.

When Marketing Your Business Don't Discount, Add Value!

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:44:00 GMT

In a recent article in the NZ Herald, I read with interest the difficulties a major cereal brand was experiencing as customers were no longer buying their products.

Since the recession hit, this brand had been discounting their prices so as to be regularly offered "on special" in supermarkets. Products sold well.

2 years on the brand decided that the worst was over. They gently returned to selling their product at the normal price. Sales plummeted.

Why, when they were a well-established, trusted brand, well known to New Zealanders had they seemingly fallen out of favour with their buying public? Answer: a shift in the value perception of their target audience.

I returned to a business book recently to read "if there's one thing you remember from reading this book it is to NOT DISCOUNT but to ADD VALUE!"

Its obvious really: if your business continually offers discounts then over time your customers believe the discounted price to be the norm – and simply won't pay more. Your margins will suffer from constant discounting and products won't sell unless they are discounted.

The cereal brand found as a result of discounting their customers were now only buying if the product was "on special". If it was not, then they bought a competing brand at the price point they had become used to paying. The road out of this predicament is both costly and long. It will be years (perhaps generations) before this brand can return to its Recommended Retail Price.

For as long as I can remember there's always been a sale on at Briscoes. When I go there I don't expect to pay full price for anything. Do you?

Discounters beware, you have more to offer than price slashes and so much more to lose.

Why ranking No.1 in Google is not what you actually want.

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:29:00 GMT

These days it seems every business wants to be number 1 in Google. If you are one of them, here’s why you’re missing half the point.

When I ask business owners about their online goals, the most common answer is “to appear first in the Search Engine Rankings”. They go on to say how important ranking number 1 in Google is to their business and how this must be their first priority. When I ask about the second priority, typically I’m met with silence. This may be evidence of an increasingly skewed perception.

If you type "How to rank number 1 in Google" into Google, there are 452 Million page results. Clearly it is important to many of us, if not all of us. However, I'm concerned that the perception of a premier search ranking is increasingly regarded as a silver bullet – a panacea to cure all business sales woes. While I can only agree with developing a strategic plan around Search Engine Optimization (SEO), I feel that this common aspiration only deals with half the equation.

Why a top Google ranking is not the whole solution

Imagine you are a café owner at a railway station. A half-full train pulls in and it’s passengers disembark. They walk off the platform and a few notice your café and step inside. At the counter they find the food does not look very appetizing, the menu prices are confusing and you seem more interested in listening to your iPod than serving them. Most of them leave, but a few make a purchase.

Later another train rolls-in, this time it is packed full. It empties and hundreds shuffle past your café, this time twice as many enter. They have the same poor customer experience and again most leave in frustration. A few persistent ones do actually buy something.

What I'm getting at is that although the full train brought double the visitors, you did not make double the sales. In my experience this is what most businesses are doing right now: focusing on driving traffic while forgetting to look at the more vital areas of persuasion and conversion.

Why focus on more traffic when you need more sales?

Recently, I was presented with statistics from the website of a local business: in one month this site had 3,252 unique visitors – impressive indeed.

However, other numbers told a different story. Out of 3,252 visitors only 20 made an enquiry and of those 20, only 3 turned into actual sales. That’s an appalling ratio by any measure.

Given the company were paying $11.60 per click for Google Adwords, this campaign was sucking money out of the business without any significant returns.

I explained that 100% focus on Search Engine Rankings brings only traffic not sales. My advice was to stop running this Adwords campaign immediately and to use the money to:

Refine the website structure for a clearer conversion pathway
Provide better signposting to get prospects to complete the business goals
Get a professional copywriter to rewrite the entire site content

How to increase your enquiries and profits in just 7 hours

Having lots of visitors but few enquiries is a clear indication that the words on your website are not working hard enough to bring you the sale. Writing effective web copy can make a substantial difference to this: you need selling words that spark interest and compel visitors to act.

If you’ve got a 10 page website, a professional copywriter should be able to rewrite it in about a day. Plus you'll get the value of their expertise. This will ensure your key selling messages are conveyed with optimum effect. You'll be surprised at the increase in online enquiries.

From here the number of sales is really down to you and how many of these prospects you can convert into customers. More enquiries means more potential sales and therefore more profit. So pay the copywriter and let them do their job!

5 reasons why you should never write your own website copy

If you’re still thinking you don't need a copywriter because you are great at writing, I say think again. You are not the best person to write the content because:

You are too close to your business for an objective view of what's important to your prospects.
You’ll use industry jargon, acronyms or other terminology that most customers don’t understand.
You’ll talk about your company and how great you are.
You are time-poor so you'll copy and paste paragraphs rather than write.
Writing information is not the same as writing compelling sales copy.

A better balance of both persuasion and traffic

While I don't disagree with the benefits of a high search ranking, ideally these efforts should be coupled with a focus on improving existing content. Web content can be changed quickly and more affordably than attempts to summit the Google Rankings. (about $800 one-off cost compared to up to $1200 per month). This focus on creating compelling content should be your first priority and bringing in hundreds more visitors should be your second.

Why all website contact forms should look like this

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:47:00 GMT

How much time did you spend considering the contact page of your website? I’m guessing not that much. In this article I’d like to encourage you to think again.

Website design can be an exhilarating experience for both the web designer and the soon-to-be new site owner. However in all the excitement the humble contact form is often overlooked. The significant function that this form carries out and it’s direct relation to the success of your business would suggest it requires more thoughtful consideration.

Minimize friction to maximise sales leads

One of the general tenets of website strategy is to "reduce friction", that is to allow website visitors to navigate and complete website goals with ease. In the case of your website’s enquiry form, this is achieved by ensuring the form is as brief as possible. Too many form fields naturally put people off. (Recently I encountered one with a massive 32 fields but that’s another story.)

Because of this your website’s contact form probably only consists of name, email and your enquiry fields. Which is a good start but at this point I’d suggest a fraction more friction.

How you’ve lost a prospective customer without doing anything bad

The purpose of your website’s contact form is to deliver sales leads into your business. Sometimes, even though prospects sucessfully complete the form – and submit it – you lose them. Why? Simple human error. Not yours but theirs: they’ve typed their email address incorrectly.

Fast forward to a few days later and your prospect is already beginning to dislike your service. They may even start complaining to friends, colleagues or (worse still) to everyone via Social Media. This is poison for your business and your reputation.

Seen from their point of view it’s understandable: they sent an enquiry days ago and nobody in your company has replied. From your point of view, you may well have replied but as their email was incorrectly typed you have no other way of contacting them.

It’s true, there may also be a contact phone number field in your enquiry form but generally frequency of this is low. Prospects can also be reluctant to complete this for fear of sales calls.

Why a little more friction will secure more sales leads for you

The simple addition of a second form field is all that is needed. Asking users to type their email address again will encourage more careful typing. Granted, it’s not foolproof as some may simply copy and paste the first into the second. However, its a fix that requires the minimum of effort – a small price for getting a few more leads.

Don’t change your enquiry form until you’ve read this last little bit

Your contact form is also an opportunity for you, the business owner to find out where your prospects are coming from. A straightforward "how did you here about us" will tell you all you need to know about the success (or not) of your current marketing. Use a dropdown menu to list specifics. e.g. Google Search, Radio Ad, Referral, Newspaper ad etc to get the most from this crucial touchpoint.