What’s in a Name?

In business, a good name is hard to find. Staking your reputation on the one you choose is even more-important.

As I’ve said before, many individuals who get into the restoration trade are coming from either the janitorial or fabrication businesses. Restoration of stone, however, is a whole new animal.

If you plan on being good in the stone business, have a separate name.

I started off as Tom’s Maintenance & Floor Cleaning, and we offered stone restoration on the side. We did all right as “Tom’s,” but I never had any great success until after I started a separate division known now as Great Northern Stone.

Why did I choose that name? Because Average Northern Stone was already taken :). Seriously though, I wanted something distinctly stone and also described where we worked without limiting the region to Ontario or Canada. (Stone culture is still relatively young up here.)

I also felt that the name “great” should be in there to subliminally tell the customers we’re better than the rest (although they had 15-plus years on me). Another word at the end would have been too much for letterheads; and, I didn’t want to limit myself to restoration. I was moving into machine and product distribution, as well as consulting.

Also, for some reason, everyone associates Canadians with Second City TV’s The Great White North and Bob and Doug, the MacKenzie brothers, so why not play off the stereotype, eh?

You can do the same. I know a guy in Connecticut who’s known as “Diamond Jim” in his power-washing business, and is getting into stone restoration. That’s an awesome name for the stone business because we need diamonds to polish stone.

I know another business man from Florida known as Bob Stone. You can’t make up a better name for this business.

The late Brian Yager called his business Desert Stone. Whether it’s intentional or not, it always made me think of the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm). In addition, he was in Arizona, where except for the cities, it’s all desert. A perfect name. You remember it!

If you can capitalize on the area you live in, or if you have a name that coincides with the trade, use it. It makes you more memorable; if people remember you, they’ll call you. If they’re confused about your name, you could be mistaken for your competition or – worse yet – your past customers may get someone else’s name instead of yours from someone in your network by accident.

If you live in Kansas, why not KC Stone Restoration. In Texas, there’s Hot Lizard Stone Care, Texas Stone Restoration, Lone Star Stone Care. The possibilities are endless; if you can be remembered, you will be. (None of the above are trademarked that I know of; if you use them, a thank-you would be nice.)

One of the problems you’ll find is if you don’t come up with a secondary name for your stone work, you’ll get into negative stereotyping. Carpet cleaners are a dime-a-dozen and fight over pennies. Customers with stone see carpet cleaners as only worth a perceived value; when pricing stone jobs (and the risk involved), they may discount your worth (and your business), no matter how well you sell your services.

Fabricators, while being perceived as knowing stone and being worth more, will tend to limit their customer base to past and present clients. You’ll have a hard time getting your competitors to recommend you for restoration if you’re still perceived as their competition.

Another factor in your name is branding. How well do you burn your name and image into the minds of the customer so they’ll remember it? I remember a buddy of mine years ago in the drywall business who called his company “Whitemud Drywall”. While catchy and memorable, he never had it on his shirt, invoices, truck or anything that he could put it on.

Take a lesson from the big corporations and brand your name. If you’re paying $1,000 a month for a truck lease, insurance and licensing, you have a rolling billboard that would cost you the same or more per month to place an ad on the side of the road. So maximize your investment and be known.

I can’t tell you how many times my customers tell me that they saw one of our trucks around town or even on the expressway. I received calls while I was in Florida because I was driving my personal truck (which, of course, is lettered).

When customers see you and every employee of yours wearing branded company shirts, it makes them feel like they are dealing with a bigger, more-successful company.

As time goes on and your reputation solidifies, your name becomes a standard and is associated with quality (if you’ve lived up to that image). While certain corporations have negative events in their past, you tend not to dwell on them when you are dealing with big-time names such as Disney, Exxon, Macy’s and the like.

And, the type of clientele we deal with are more-apt to choose a company that’s visible and well-known than one that’s obscure and untested. Companies that have a reputation and are out in the open for everyone to see have a lot to lose. Those hiding among the shadows can always go back and bury themselves if they do things wrong – and my clients realize that.

So until next time, keep your stick on the ice and don’t forget my name (especially if you are sending me a bottle of Crown Royal – now talk about branding ….)

Tom McNall is founder and owner of Great Northern Stone Care, a Huron Park, Ontario-based stone-cleaning and -restoration company servicing all of southern Ontario. Tom offers corporate and private consultations, serves as a trainer for the Marble Institute of America, and is also on the organization’s board of directors. McNall can be reached at stone_rx@earthlink.net.

©2010 Western Business Media Inc.