What others say about your brand is much more powerful and credible than what you can say about it yourself.

When it comes to branding your consulting brilliance, favorable publicity in media or word of mouth is far superior to advertising. So how do you generate publicity “buzz”? Create a buzz about your brand by being visible: Speaking at seminars, publishing a newsletter on your website, participating as a host or guest on television or radio talk shows, writing a column in a reputable trade journal, and networking.

4. Promote a powerful perception of quality in client’s mind.

What is quality if not a perception that resides in mind of client? You build quality intangibles around trust, reliability, excellent people, and innovative client services. Show clients that you can interpret and process their information to convert it to results oriented solutions. What you say is important, but what you do is even more important for reinforcing their perception of your brand quality.

Keep lines of communication open. The goal of branding your consulting brilliance is to convince client that your brand is worth their trust and worth a premium price.

5. Establish your credentials as an industry leader in field.

Clients like to know they are doing business with an industry leader. Make clients aware of your consulting acumen, presence, and commitment. Know your clients’ businesses inside out – what they do, why they do it, how they do it. Tout your firm’s successful track record of accomplishment in working with companies like theirs.

Build and sustain credibility with clients by strengthening your client relationships, developing a client retention strategy, demonstrating that you value your new clients, and going extra mile for them.

6. Practice consistency in building your consulting brilliance.

Stay focused on implementing branding of your consulting brilliance. Keep abreast of marketing trends in your profession and position yourself as a recognized expert. Make most of your unique marketing proposition. Accelerate and elevate perceived value of your brand in marketplace.

In short, to brand your consulting brilliance, know what you have to offer, know how to differentiate it, and know how to market it.

Interacting with outside audience members lets your people ask questions like “How do you feel about us? How recently have you had contact with our personnel? Have you actually used our services or products? Do you have any questions or problems with regard to our organization?”

The data gathered by this exercise is raw material you need to establish your public relations goal. For instance, correct that inaccuracy, clear up that misconception or spike that rumor.

To achieve such a public relations goal, you’ll need right strategy to show you how to do it. And choice of strategies is not complex because there are just three available when you address matters of opinion and perception: change existing opinion, create perception where none exists, or reinforce an existing perception/opinion. Always be careful that your chosen strategy flows naturally from your public relations goal.

Now, what will you say to members of that key target audience that, hopefully, will alter inaccurate perception you discovered? You want your message to be crystal-clear as it details why that perception is just not true. From such clarity should come believability and a compelling delivery that can lead to target audience behaviors you need to meet your department, division or subsidiary objectives.

Actually delivering message is least complex step in public relations problem solving sequence. Fortunately for you, there is a large collection of communications tactics available to you ranging from your own personal contacts, service or product promotions, news announcements and consumer briefings to newsletters, media interviews, emails and dozens of other tactics.

In due course, you, your team and other interested parties will want to assess how your public relations effort is faring at altering offending perception. Best way to determine that is to duplicate your earlier benchmark monitoring session putting similar questions to members of your target audience. The important difference now? You’re watching carefully for signs that troublesome perception is being altered in your direction.

That altered perception, leading inevitably to predictable behaviors, is bottom line. And a strong indication that a workable department or division public relations blueprint can help a unit manager achieve his or her operating objectives.

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Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com