When was the last time you saw a company advertise itself as “combative and adversarial?” Have you seen any vision statements that say “We struggle with our customers for common ground?” How about a tagline that says, “Committed to losing your trust?”

Of course not. But more than half of b-to-b technology companies are branding themselves this way by their actions, according to a new study by the Chief Marketing Officer Council, reported in a recent online article in B2B Magazine.

According to the study, which surveyed 1,000 b-to-b technology buyers, IT marketing and customer relationship executives and their channel partners, 56% of vendors perceive themselves as being customer-centric, but only 12% of customers agree. Even more telling is that more than half of customers surveyed described their relationship with vendors as “dependent and captive,” “struggling for common ground” or “combative and adversarial.”

To drive home the risk, the study found that more than 30% of respondents said they would terminate relationships with companies that fail to gain their trust and 62% would scale back existing relationships.

The issues uncovered in this study go way past branding. Or do they? Is branding just logos and taglines? Or is it everything about the way you do business?

We think b-to-b branding includes three equally important parts:
1. Developing a clear vision of who you are and how you add value – using customer input, not just doing this in a vacuum.
2. Applying that vision across the enterprise and, of course, in all communications.
3. Living up to your communications by “living the brand” in all customer interactions.

Our branding white papers go into more detail about these steps, including how to “live the brand” online. B-to-b technology companies need to pay close attention to this, since more of their customers are using online resources to find, research and qualify potential vendors. Creating a positive online experience not only helps your bottom line in the short term. It can actually serve as a roadmap for transforming the rest of the organization to provide a customer experience that lives up to your brand vision.