I shared in the previous post Dr. Bendapudi’s idea that your brand is your promise. Whether you provide products or services for the B2B or B2C market, it’s important to understand that for your consumer, your brand is functional (or rational) and emotional. When you capture the customer’s emotion, they are truly engaged with your brand.

In certain respects, you can think of their awareness of your brand of ‘shelf space’. It’s actually ‘mind space’ in this case, which is arguably an extremely valuable commodity. Bendapudi points out that your brand is brought to life by your people. The experience your customers and clients have with your company is the bottom line. Experience trumps the marketing every time. It doesn’t matter what you say, it matters what you do. Sound familiar? [Click To Continue...]

Crisis can make or break a person or a company. How you respond to change defines how you step into the challenge. Do you sit it out in your imaginary storm shelter hoping it will pass and you will emerge unscathed?

Or do you rise to the moment, innovate and look at what you can do differently? Crisis might look like a changing economy, the loss of a job or a corporate restructuring. Your response determines how you will weather the storm. With the right perspective and corresponding actions, you can grow and prosper during challenging times.

You shape the circumstance or it shapes you. Think of a weather crisis. A tornado touches down or a hurricane passes through. You stay safe during the event and emerge after to a changed world. Some buildings have moved; others are gone; some things are destroyed, while others remain standing. You can?t just pretend that everything was exactly as it was before.

Crisis can call us to innovation. What if you knew that it would work out better? Would that change your perspective? Your attitude? Your actions? If you want better answers, ask better questions.