There’re 3 critical elements that affect our judgement of any product and its organisation…

Function: Does it provide the features you require? Will it be reliable? Are you confident in the price and that they’ll be no hidden extra charges?

Form: Will it fit into the office space available? Does it fit into the office environment?

Meaning: Which refers to the significance and associations customers experience with a product.

Not just the physical product, also with the company associated to that product, the overall experience they’re likely to receive and how the company is seen in its wider community.

Once function and form has been determined, it comes down to meaning. This is the area where you can really stand out above your competition and provide people with a reason to choose you.

Take our office technology business. Our customers want to see we have a strong track record of being honest with customers, and that we provide reliable, value for money products and services.

They also want to see what we believe in and how we are rooted in our wider community.

Our strap line ‘Simple Honest Service’ sums us up exactly.

Simple to do business with, honest and transparent, with a commitment to provide the very best service we can, if any given situation.

We believe in giving back to worthy causes and support the environment in our own small way, through our corporate social responsibility program and our ongoing plant a tree campaign.

…once a person accepts your form and function, how do you get them to believe in your meaning?