Module
Company naming for Professional service firms
The Naming module is a framework full of exercises, questions and discussions aimed at generating a good, strong, distinct name for your company, brand, product and service.
A great business name helps companies stand out from the competition, reinforce the core idea and create connections in the minds of the prospects.
Brand naming workshop
It’s amazing what a good naming framework can do. Firms that were unable to come up with a name in months were able to create great brand names in a matter of minutes.
Most business managers of professional services firms are blind to the fact of lost productivity. Without a proper, proven framework the naming process always goes sideways with hundreds of man-hours wasted. Imagine you could get rid of all the frustration and save hundreds of productive hours.
The benefits of a company naming framework
Avoid most common naming mistakes.
Save weeks of precious business time.
Be more productive and efficient.
Get unstuck and stop going in circles.
Generate more names in minutes, not months.
Ensure the buy-in of the whole team from the get-go.
Brand naming workshop
what will you get?During this Naming workshop your team will collaborate and come up with multiple names for your brand or service offerings. We have guided teams from a totally blank state of mind to a horn of plenty. We were forced to stop team members from generating new naming ideas. The horn just kept on giving.
Naming process for professional services firms
To select a strong name for a professional services firm we need to create several good options first. To reach this number we need to have at least ten solid names. To generate that many different company names we follow a step-by-step process. The process we use has proven to work exceptionally well.
We always screen the naming finalists and put them to the test. We explain why certain company names are bad, why some are better and which ones look more promising.
Then we do the rigorous research on the top ten names. We want to make sure the names are appropriate, available, aligned, competitive, unique and memorable.
Sometimes the final choice for the company name is different from the one selected during the naming workshop. But most of the time it is based on the one generated by team members.
Brand, company & services naming strategies
During the naming workshop we go through several exercises. Team members are assigned to think of names that fall into one of the six categories. We do not limit participants in any way. We even encourage teammates to let their imaginations go wild.
In fact, the only restraint is the category itself within which the name has to be created. We help team members understand how other professional services firms have approached the same problem. We guide with examples, tips and warn them about most common naming mistakes.
Our firm belief is that the ideal, the perfect, the one and only name does not exist. Therefore principals shouldn’t spend weeks over months ruminating about their firm’s name. There’s bigger fish to fry.
The name shouldn’t prevent you from moving forward. Remember the story of Apple — how Steve Jobs came up with the name. There is a lot to learn examining the footsteps of great companies.
Benefits of a unique business name
A distinct brand name is like a beacon in the fog. You can live without it but it will be much easier for everyone if you had it. A good brand name gives hope — don’t laugh, it’s true. A light in the misty darkness keeps us focused while we pursue our goals.
The benefits are obvious. Imagine having your own people work together and then produce a wonderful name for your small business that everyone is proud of. A banner to rally under. Our naming framework can help you achieve that.
Services naming
The naming process of service offerings is usually a tricky business. There is a lot of competition out there. Most of the good names are already taken. Some names only seem to be good. While other names are either look-alikers or inappropriate. Some names could harm your business by reinforcing the names of your competition.
We approach the naming problem with utmost care. We think creatively first. We do our research next. Then we analyze and repeat this process. Even if generate a great name right off the bat, we still put our assumptions to the test against the realities of the marketplace.
What you’re getting with this Naming module
Saves you and your team members a ton of time.
Produces positive emotions by eliminates frustrations, finally feeling unstuck.
Helps to avoid most common naming mistakes every single business owner makes.
Produces a unique, memorable and meaningful name that helps your small business stand out from the bland sea of bloody competition.
We have seen the eyes light up. We have felt the boost in morale.
Key stakeholders take ownership of the results defending the company name and honor against any attacks from the outside.
Questions & answers ▾▾▾
Brand naming workshop consists of exercises and discussions that are embedded in a framework. Its purpose is to help you generate meaningful names, to filter out bad company names, to avoid most common naming mistakes and to come up with a perfect name for your small business, brand or service.
There is an extensive list of the most common naming mistakes companies tend to make. You will learn how to avoid these errors during the naming workshop. The best company names are memorable, easy to spell, unique, appropriate, available and euphonious.
The brand name doesn’t have to be totally unique. A similar name might exist in another country or vertical. What’s important — the brand name has to be very different from your competition. For example, if every competitor uses abstract names, you can use the person’s last name if appropriate.
If companies operate in different, non-adherent industries, it is OK to have similar names. There is Domino Sugar and Domino’s Pizza, Apple computers and Apple bank, Finlandia cheese and Finlandia vodka. It would be good if this could be avoided. But being realistic — there are so many companies in the world that something truly unique is rare.
Our favorite super-easy test is the Dot-com test. Check if the domain with “.com” namespace is free. If the domain name is available that is a sure sign that the name is unique. The second test is the Search test. Use your favorite search engine to see if the name exists.
There isn’t a golden rule that says — “the shorter the better”. However, you would want to refrain from using names that are too long and therefore troublesome to pronounce. Consider — “American Institute of Brand Naming”. Your client will never use that length of a name. At best, they will abbreviate it. Hopefully it wouldn’t sound ridiculous (e.g., Super-Human IT services).
The brand naming service starts from 5 000 USD. The price depends on the amount of research required. The larger the industry of your target market, the more expensive the naming services will be. Consider this investment if you value your teammates productive time as well as your own.
We have tried using this approach and it fails. It will generate you names but they won’t be meaningful. The results you’ll get are close to infinity which makes it that much harder for you to make a choice. You want to have a handful of solid options. Not an overwhelming infinity.
We know the theory behind naming as well as its practical implementation. We have heard about and experienced the naming mistakes many business owners make. A naming consultant will help you save time, steer away from obvious errors and guide your team towards a better name for your small business.
Your team will come up with the name. That’s the whole point. We will advise on adjustments when necessary. We want you to do the naming yourself. Imposed names tend to get rejected.
It usually takes 30 to 60 minutes during the naming workshop for a team of five people to come up with a dozen interesting names for the business. It takes several weeks of market research to tweak the names. It takes a couple more days to finalize and approve the business name with all the key stakeholders.
We do not do official trademark checks. We use other methods to minimize the chances but never guarantee the name hasn’t been trademarked yet. We recommend hiring a specialized trademark search services firm. You can always contact USPTO.gov as well.
Connect with us to discuss your branding requirements
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