Rebranding a Business Without Alienating Your Existing Customers

Is your business at a point where you’re looking to make some significant changes? Perhaps you’re feeling a financial strain or have a sense of stagnation and/or falling behind the times and are looking to expand your offerings, attract a different demographic, enter a new market or - at the very least modernize your company’s image.

While it certainly can be done, transforming/rebranding/pivoting your business requires a deft hand and a strong, focused strategy. If you don’t proceed prudently, while reaching out to a new audience, you could end up sabotaging yourself and alienating your existing customer base.

A wise way to undertake such a revamping of your company image incorporates these steps:

• Revisit your company’s core mission and values to ensure any new venture, direction or decision lies firmly within those principles. If some brand redefinition needs to happen, decide upon it now, secure employee buy-in and roll out its implementation gracefully to avoid the appearance of "throwing the baby out with the bathwater."
• Assess your company’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to your rebranding goals. Which characteristics will help you pivot in the right direction with ease and aplomb? What new skills and abilities will your business need to attain so as to meet the challenges of your new vision for it?
• Define, then thoroughly research your new target audience: it will be a combination of your existing customers plus the characteristics of those you’re aiming to attract. First, assess what makes you valuable to your existing customers and how you meet their needs and preferences. You can discover this by analyzing your sales data and also through the use of feedback via questionnaires and ratings. Next, determine the needs of the new audience you want to attract, their demographics and where they are now going for what you offer so you can study the competition, see how they meet - and don’t meet - their customer’s needs to set yourself apart. Blend that data with your existing customer intel and viola! - your new target audience.
• Announce your intentions to grow in this new direction to customers as early as feasible so it doesn’t come as a sudden and jarring shock. Put the most positive spin possible on it so it is understood from the outset that this is a well-founded, logical progression in the evolution of your business. Express excitement about how this expansion will benefit them. Take the time to consider what questions or concerns they may have about the rebrand and devise concise, complete, responses that will satisfy their curiosity and quell any worries about their relationship with your business moving forward. Those responses should be easy to access, on your website or in marketing communications. Loyal customers should be rewarded; existing customer specials will ensure they remain advocates of your "new" business.
• Ensure an easy transition by focusing on continuity. It’s important to bridge the old and new as seamlessly as possible. Emphasize that core values remain and your dedication to quality and customer satisfaction will not change. Make physical changes on all levels of customer engagement concurrently, while retaining as much of the familiar as possible with regard to recognizable visual details and company messaging. Phase in new elements slowly, yet consistently.
• Continue to keep your ear to the ground, monitoring how those most affected by your business’ transformation are feeling toward it. Avoid assuming how people are adapting to the changes. Utilize surveys and feedback - as well as sales metrics - to keep abreast of how people are thinking and reacting so if it’s not positive - or as positive as you’d like - you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
• Be certain to train employees on any new company mission or messaging so they are effective brand ambassadors, getting customers on board and loving the company as it has evolved.
• Come up with a strategy to attract your new customers. You can leverage the fact that you’re new to this market and take a fresh approach with your marketing that can be completely different from what worked with your existing customers. Be bold and try something different to discover your own way of utilizing your tried-and-true messaging expertise with a new voice and vehicle.

The fact is, some customers will jump ship on you; there are those who simply don’t appreciate change from companies with whom they’ve chosen to do business. This is an unfortunate truth - but one that can be minimized by implementation of a strong, focused strategy like this. Think, plan, communicate with transparency, move thoughtfully, purposefully and consistently - and you’ll blend old and new to achieve a revived, thriving and profitable business.

Is your business ready to pivot to attract new customers?