Why Your Business Image is Costing You Money (And How to Fix It)
I see it all the time with businesses across Brisbane—from electricians in Coorparoo to accounting firms in the CBD. You’re working your tail off, your service is top-notch, but you’re still fighting for every lead. Or worse, you’re getting plenty of calls, but they are all 'tyre-kickers' looking for the cheapest price.
If you feel like you’re stuck in a race to the bottom, the problem isn’t your work. It’s your brand.
Now, don't roll your eyes. When I say 'brand,' I’m not talking about fancy logos or choosing the right shade of blue. I’m talking about the gut feeling a customer gets when they see your ute, visit your website, or read your reviews. A 'brand audit' is just a fancy way of saying: 'Checking if your business looks like a winner or a basement-bargain bin.'
Most small business owners get this dead wrong. They spend thousands on ads before checking if their business actually looks trustworthy. It’s like pouring water into a bucket full of holes.
In this guide, I’m going to show you how to find those holes and plug them so you can stop competing on price and start getting the best jobs.
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Mistake #1: Thinking Your Brand is Just a Logo
If I had a dollar for every time a business owner told me, "I’ve got my branding sorted, I paid a guy on Fiverr for a logo," I’d be retired on the Gold Coast by now.
Your logo is about 5% of your brand. The other 95% is how you answer the phone, how clean your uniforms are, how fast your website loads on a phone, and what people say about you on Google.
The Reality Check
Go stand out the front of your business or look at your work vehicle. Does it look like the business of someone who charges premium rates? Or does it look like someone who’s just scraping by? Customers make a split-second decision about how much you are worth based on these visual cues. If you want to stop being the cheapest, you have to look the part first.Action Step: Ask a friend (one who will be honest with you, not your mum) to look at your website and your Facebook page for 10 seconds. Then ask them: "How much do you think this business charges?" If their answer is lower than your actual rates, you have a branding problem.
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Mistake #2: Ignoring the "Google Ghost Town"
We worked with a landscaper in North Lakes who couldn't figure out why his phone wasn't ringing. He was spending $2,000 a month on Google Ads. When we looked at his 'brand,' he had three stars on Google and two reviews from 2019.
No amount of advertising can fix a bad reputation. In 2024, your reputation is your most valuable asset. If you have bad reviews—or no reviews at all—you are literally handing money to your competitors.
How to Audit Your Reputation
Search for your business name on Google right now. 1. What’s the first thing that pops up? 2. Are your contact details correct? 3. Do you have recent photos of your work? 4. Are you replying to reviews (even the bad ones)?If you don't stay on top of this, you'll stop losing customers only when you start treating your online profile as a priority, not an afterthought.
The Cost of Ignoring This: It costs you the 'trust' factor. People buy from people they trust. If Google shows you haven't updated your page in two years, customers assume you’ve gone out of business or you just don't care.
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Mistake #3: Talking About Yourself Instead of the Customer
Most small business websites are boring. They say things like: "Established in 1994" "We use the latest technology" "Family owned and operated"
I’ll be blunt: Your customers don't care about you. They care about their own problems. They want to know if you can fix their leaking tap, clear their blocked drain, or save them money on their taxes.
The "So What?" Test
Read the text on your website. After every sentence, ask yourself: "So what?" We’ve been around for 30 years. (So what? It means we won't disappear tomorrow and we know exactly how to fix your specific problem.) We have five trucks. (So what? It means we can get to your house today, not next week.)If your marketing doesn't clearly explain how you make the customer's life easier, it’s a waste of space. To get more phone calls, you need to be well-known for solving a specific problem, not just for existing.
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Mistake #4: Attracting the Wrong Kind of Leads
Are you sick of spending an hour driving to a quote only for the customer to tell you they "found someone cheaper"? This is a branding failure.
Your brand acts as a filter. If your website looks cheap and your ads focus on "10% off" or "Lowest Price Guaranteed," you are inviting the bargain hunters into your life. These are the worst customers. They complain the most, pay the slowest, and never refer you to anyone good.
Auditing Your Lead Quality
Look at your last 10 jobs. How many of them were 'perfect' customers? If the answer is less than 5, your brand is sending the wrong signal. You need a process to stop chasing bad leads by changing the way you present your business.Action Step: Remove every mention of "cheap," "discount," or "affordable" from your marketing for one month. Replace it with words like "quality," "guaranteed," "professional," and "reliable." Watch how the tone of your enquiries changes.
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Mistake #5: The "Broken Link" Experience
I call this the 'leaky bucket' audit. This is where you check the actual steps a customer takes to give you money.
1. The Phone Call: Does someone answer professionally? Or do they get a muffled "G'day, leave a message"? 2. The Website: Does it work on a phone? If someone has to pinch and zoom to find your phone number, they will leave and click on your competitor. 3. The Follow-up: If someone fills out a form on your site, how long does it take you to call them? If it’s more than an hour, your brand just told them "you aren't important."
In Brisbane, competition is fierce. If you make it even slightly difficult for someone to hire you, they won't. They’ll go to the next person on Google.
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How to Do Your Own Brand Audit (The 60-Minute Version)
You don't need a marketing degree to do this. You just need an hour and a bit of honesty.
1. The Google Search (10 Mins)
Search for your services (e.g., "Plumber Chermside"). Where do you show up? If you aren't in the top 3 on the map, you’re invisible. Look at the people who are in the top 3. What do their photos look like? How many reviews do they have? That is your benchmark.2. The Website Speed Test (10 Mins)
Open your website on your own phone using 4G (not the office Wi-Fi). Does it load instantly? Is the "Call Now" button right at the top? If you have to wait for it to load, your customers are already gone.3. The Visual Consistency Check (20 Mins)
Lay out your business card, look at your Facebook page, your website, and your latest invoice. Do they look like they come from the same company? If your business card is green and your website is blue, it creates 'brand confusion.' Confused people don't buy.4. The Competitor Comparison (20 Mins)
Find the biggest, most successful competitor in Brisbane. Look at their brand. Don't copy them, but look at what they are doing right. Do they have professional photos of their team? Do they explain their pricing clearly? This shows you what the 'premium' customers in your area expect.---
What This Will Do For Your Business
If you take this seriously and fix these issues, here is what happens:
1. You Can Charge More: When you look like the best, people expect to pay more. 2. Better Customers: You’ll stop getting calls from people who only care about the lowest price. 3. Higher Marketing ROI: Your ads will work better because when people click them, they actually trust what they see. 4. Less Stress: It’s much easier to run a business when you have a steady stream of high-quality enquiries.
How Much Does It Cost?
Doing the audit costs you nothing but an hour of your time. Fixing the issues varies:
Updating Google My Business: Free (just takes time). Getting Better Photos: $500 - $1,500 for a local Brisbane photographer. (Worth every cent). Fixing Your Website: $2,000 - $5,000 depending on how broken it is.- New Uniforms/Signage: $1,000 - $3,000.
What Should You Do First?
Don't try to fix everything at once. Start with your Google Reviews. Ask your last 5 happy customers for a review today. That is the fastest way to improve your brand image and get more phone calls immediately.
Most of what you read online about 'brand strategy' is fluff. It’s about making things look pretty. At Local Marketing Group, we care about making things work. If your brand isn't making you money, it’s broken.
If you're too busy running your business to worry about this stuff, or you want a professional eye to tell you exactly where your business is leaking money, we can help. We've helped dozens of Brisbane businesses turn their 'forgotten' brand into a lead-generation machine.
Stop guessing and start growing.
Contact Local Marketing Group today and let’s get your business looking as good as the work you do.