The Importance of Maintaining Brand Identity in a Third-Party World

We all know how important it is these days to maintain a strong brand identity. Having a consistent and powerful identity attached to your brand is one of the best ways to ensure recognition for your business continues to climb and your name is passed around in the all the right circles.

However, something has changed in the way business operates in recent years which threatens to dilute brand identity if not carefully managed.

We are talking about the increased reliance we are seeing in many organizations on the services of third-party contractors and outsourcing to deliver core elements of a brand’s business objectives. When third-party organizations are conducting significant portions of your work, how do you make sure your image, voice, and identity remain consistent throughout?

The Outsourcing Explosion

There is no doubt we are seeing a significant increase in outsourcing from companies all over the world. Recent research from Deloitte predicts that global spending on outsourced services could reach a staggering $731 billion by the end of 2023. This would represent a 22% increase when compared to confirmed figures from 2019.

The most popular sector which is outsourced is IT services which account for nearly three-quarters (72%) of all global outsourcing contract values. Of the $92.5 billion in contracts generated by global outsourcing firms, $66.5 billion came from IT services, with business process outsourcing made up the remaining $26 billion in total contract values.

92% of the G2000 companies use IT outsourcing.

Field Service

In field service, we are also seeing a marked increase in the number of core functions being outsourced to third-party contractors. This is, in part being driven by the global talent crisis which is seeing many job vacancies going unfilled and the companies concerned forced to contract freelance or agency workers to complete essential jobs for their customers.

It’s not so much of a problem when outsourcing only concerns back-office tasks such as IT or business processes, but when the customer facing elements of your operation are being conducted by contracted workers, how do you make sure they are adhering to the values of company in an equivalent manner to your own workers?

"You want people to see your brand as trustworthy and reliable,” writes Blue Frog. "This type of positive association comes when you convey a united and uniform front. Achieving brand consistency means that consumers recognize your brand whenever they encounter it. When you go to McDonald's you get the same customer service, the same product, and you see consistent imagery in every location. Years of this consistency have fostered a sense of security and trust with every customer.”

Communication

The most crucial factor you need to focus on to make sure your brand identity is being maintained by third-party contractors is communication. When onboarding third-party workers, you need to be clear what the expectations are regarding these factors and ensure all policies are understood and adhered to.

Moreover, you should ideally seek contractors which are happy to wear some form of uniform which aligns them with your own workers – even a badge, properly displayed will help in this regard – and adherence to expected modes of behavior and values are baked into the contract.

All contractors need to be properly vetted to ensure the standard of their work is of a quality which aligns with the expectations you have of your own employees and that they possess all relevant and valid qualifications and certificates necessary to conduct the work you require them for. One of the worst things which can happen to damage your reputation is for a cowboy engineer to be conducting work under your brand, for one of your valuable clients and to make a mess of things due to inappropriate skills, qualifications, and experience.

It can be challenging to keep a handle on the activities of third-party contractors out in the field – especially with the number of plates the average field service operation needs to keep spinning every day. However, the damage caused to your identity by having a poor third-party contractor strategy can bring all those plates crashing down in no time at all.

Final Thoughts

Possessing a consistent brand identity is so important in the modern business environment. You brand identity tells customer who you are and what kind of service they can expect from you but can easily be brought crashing down through sloppy behavior and poorly thought-out strategies for onboarding and monitoring third-party contractors.

Join us on workshop day to take an active part in addressing how to maintain your image, voice, and service standard when contracting third-party partners at Field Service Medical 2023, being held in February at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, CA.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.