In many ways, everything that we have written about in this blog relates to construction corporate image or identity. Competitive difference, a business focus and good letter writing are all part of building a corporate profile.

But what makes up a corporate image or a corporate identity? What is the difference between these two ideas? Is it just about advertising or are there wider areas that can affect the perception of your company? A good distinction can be made between the two by looking at tangible and intangible factors:

• Corporate identity deals with the tangible parts of your promotional material. This is to do with branding. Your logo, colours, typestyle, brochure, website and letterheads will all effect your corporate identity. Your company has made, or will make choices about it’s corporate identity and if you are looking for advice on the subject, take a look that this post on the ‘Mogulette in the Making Blog’.
• Corporate image deals with the intangible elements of your company. It's the sum of the perceptions of your company. These perceptions are much more difficult to change and, whilst affected by your corporate identity, they are also much more than that.

By looking at these two definitions, it is clear that every business has some sort of corporate image and identity. It is also clear that it is your corporate image that will affect your financial success, far more than your corporate identity will. Whether it is conscious or not, image is built up over the course of time with every act your company takes. This ranges from the way the telephone is answered at reception to the way major contracts are managed. The image you develop of your business is critical. A good image leads to repeat business and will determine how receptive contacts and prospects are to giving you business in the first place.

A corporate image will often determine your client’s expectations of you. A strong image will encourage high expectations while a poor image will lead to low expectations. Part of managing your corporate image is managing your customer’s expectations, a topic that Harish B Kochi writes well on.

A vital part of building a positive corporate image is regular and clear communication with clients concerning job progress. The number 1 reason why clients will be dissatisfied with the job that you do is if you fail to keep them in the picture or have a communication breakdown.

If you take anything away from this post, take away this. Whenever anyone in your company acts in a way that effects people outside your firm, you are affecting your corporate image. This shouldn’t inspire you to run a company like a totalitarian regime, but it should encourage you to take an external perspective. What is your customer service like? How do you deal with feedback? If you know that you don’t place much emphasis on these areas, you need to re-evaluate your priorities.

Based on a lecture given by David Crick.