Many B2B organizations are surprised to find that the toughest audience for their new brand isn’t their clients or their prospects – it’s their sales force. Given the critical role they play, sales teams should be a brand’s most ardent ambassadors, but in the relationship-driven B2B world, many just don’t understand how brand can help them do their jobs better. To bridge the gap and win over your sales team, a multifaceted approach that includes brand education, immersion, and empowerment can help.
When a merger or acquisition fails, it’s often because not enough attention was paid to brand. While financial factors are important to any M&A success, brand is a critical factor in communicating the new entity’s value proposition to internal audiences. But delivering a strategic explanation for the restructuring is only half the battle; success also demands that you win over your employees’ hearts and minds so they can help build the brand from the inside out.
In any corporate restructuring, organizations face a similar challenge: same business, same people, different story. Whether it’s a merger, acquisition, or break-up, when business strategy changes, brand must change as well. Developing and communicating a compelling brand story that balances the past, present, and future is not just critical to establishing the new entity in the market; it’s also crucial for responding to employee concerns and creating internal unity around a new brand.