Your Brand Deserves a Second Opinion

There are times you can be too close to a situation to discern there is a problem. You can sense it, but because you are directly involved, whether you are one of two people in a relationship or the leader of a multifaceted organization with a staff of thousands, you just can’t see the problem. You could step back to gain a little clarity. Still, because you’re basically getting a panorama of your own reflection, your perception remains tainted by your own inherent bias. You know something is wrong. You just don’t know what. You need a completely different perspective.

You need a second opinion.

Couples anxious that something is coming between them benefit from the opinion of an unbiased party, usually a trained counselor or therapist. A sick person facing a number of difficult treatment options can benefit from a second opinion, especially that of a multidisciplinary team of specialists. And a healthcare brand that has become stagnant fails to represent the vision of its leadership, or worse, is rapidly losing ground to its closest competitors, can benefit tremendously from the second opinion of a team of branding experts.

Gaining a second opinion doesn’t mean blindly following someone else’s advice. There is no one who knows your organization better than you. No one is more qualified to make the decisions that will guide your organization. The key to making a good decision is making an informed decision. Someone who is outside looking in can provide a fresh view. They can advise honestly and without prejudice. They don’t say what they think you want to hear. They say what you need to know. That is why a second opinion is so valuable.

Second opinions transform the indecisiveness of “what to do now?” into knowing with confidence what to do next. And that doesn’t mean what comes next has to be a drastic, traumatic change. A cancer specialist doesn’t always recommend surgery and radiation and chemotherapy and immunotherapy. It might be a single treatment or a combination. The same is true with a branding specialist. You may indeed benefit most from a comprehensive rebrand – or you may learn that you are headed in the right direction but on the wrong road, and how you would get back on track with a few brand adjustments such as a new website, an updated logo or a more distinctive tagline.

Patients seek second opinions to know they’re doing the right thing. Doctors seek them from each other for the very same reason. As the leader of vital healthcare organization where lives and futures literally depend on the soundness of your decisions, you deserve the clear perspective of a second opinion – and the confidence of knowing you are doing the right thing.