Why a Consistent Message is Essential in Business

Why a Consistent Message is Essential in Business

For a lot of people, inconsistency can be very upsetting. For example, in team sports like basketball and football you’d expect people in the same team to wear the same uniforms. If they don’t, it’s hard for players to identify who to pass to, and the viewing audience will have a hard time figuring out what’s going on. For TV shows, inconsistency regarding the weekly schedule can result in less people watching. In criminal trials, people howl in protest when a drug dealer receives 5 years in jail while those guilty of music piracy get ten years. Sometimes the same crime may be committed by different people, and one will be let off comparatively lightly because of their celebrity status or the color of their skin.

Even children can get confused about inconsistent messages, such as when their mum says one thing and the dad says another.

The Importance of Consistency in Business

It’s the same thing in business: inconsistency can lead to losing current or potential customers. One simple example of this is when you don’t have a regular opening or closing time, or if there are random days when your shop is closed. When people don’t know whether or not you’d be open at a certain time or a certain day, they won’t risk going to your shop. They’d go to your competitor, which they know will be open.

It’s the same thing about the products or services you offer too; and even the bonuses and discounts. If they can’t rely on you, then you’ll lose customers who want reliability and consistency.

How to Promote Consistency in Your Business

Now that we’ve established how important consistency can be for any business, it’s time for you to review your own company and see whether you are consistent.

  • The name of your company should be the same, whether it’s on a signboard, a pamphlet, a website, or on a business card. The address and contact information should be exactly the same as well. Anything less will simply breed confusion.
  • You can even drive home a consistent message by using the same font and the same color for that information, no matter what the medium may be. This is essentially for branding purposes. You want to be distinct from your pack of competitors. You want customers to know that they can depend on you, and that you are utterly professional.
  • Like sports teams, if you have a workforce that wears a uniform then it is better if they all wear the same uniform. It promotes team spirit, and it identifies your people for the customers.
  • It’s not just the visuals that matter either. For example, the same professional voice should be on all your telephone message on hold recordings, IVR prompts, voicemails, online video narrations and radio advertisements To hear a familiar voice—even an automated one—is reassuring, and it tells people right away that they’ve called the right company.

If you are inconsistent in your messages and branding, you will only cause confusion. None of your customers can be really sure about what your company is all about. What they can be sure of, however, is that your company seems unprofessional in its efforts to market and advertise itself. But by being consistent across the broad spectrum of media, you project a unified front for your customers to identify—and to trust.

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