The Cost of Abbreviating your Company Name

I was driving down a street and saw the sign of a well-established business in my community. The name of the business was at the top with a brand mark beneath. In the middle of the brand mark was the acronym from the company name. No one I know has ever referred to the business by that acronym. Why include it on the sign? To me, abbreviated company names are a symbol of a company that doesn’t understand marketing and certainly doesn’t understand customers.

Let’s start with company names. Quite simply, don’t choose a name you plan to abbreviate. If you plan to abbreviate it, then just use the abbreviation from the start.  Stick with something short and meaningful (and not already claimed on the internet). If you have to choose a longer name – like Bench Strength Marketing, be prepared to use the same name. Forever. Everyone from suppliers to employees to customers need to refer to your business by the same name all the time. If you call your business Super Services but employees call you SS Corp., what are customers supposed to call you? What will they remember? This inconsistency wears away the value of your brand. You know that ‘goodwill’ that every business owner wants to profit from when they sell?  That’s the brand, so build it up – don’t tear it down.

Most small and medium sized businesses don’t have marketing budgets like Nike or McDonald’s so they have to find ways to consistently share their message with clients. To stretch your marketing dollars, your company name should be consistent in all formats and in all customer touchpoints. You’re building brand recognition when you’re consistent.  You can call your company SSCorp or Super internally but be sure that it’s not leaking out to your marketplace.

A business that is Jones Plumbing on a business card, Jones & Sons Plumbing on a van and jsplumbers.com online will be hard to find in an online search or rating platform. The public might think, “Are these three different companies or one?” This inconsistency costs money to correct and erodes your brand as an asset to your company.

• If this sounds familiar, the first thing to do is establish a standard. What is your company name? Start using it in all your conversations, communications and promotions. Make sure your employees understand why this consistency is important.
• The second step is to have someone look at every place that a customer might encounter your name. Is it exactly the same? You can’t change some big-ticket things overnight (building signage, vehicle decals, website addresses) but change email signatures, voicemails, website references ASAP.
• Third, make a list of all the things that you need to change and plan to change them when they wear out or you can afford to change them.

Remember, consistency is key. This was important before the digital age but it’s super important with search engines. This might seem like a small thing but it’s really a very big thing. And you can do it without big investments. You just have to be consistent. Every day – every way. You’re either making your asset (your brand) more valuable or wearing it away.