Brand sales certification is a way to verify and announce the sales or market share of a brand through a third-party organization to enhance the status and trust of the brand in the eyes of consumers. Brand sales certification can help brands highlight their own advantages, increase consumers' willingness to buy, and improve market competitiveness. However, not all brand sales certification programs are successful, and some programs may be ineffective or even counterproductive due to lack of effective planning, execution, monitoring or communication. Therefore, how to evaluate and end a brand sales certification project to ensure that it achieves the expected goals and effects is a problem worthy of attention and discussion.

From the perspective of project management, this article proposes a framework for evaluating and ending brand sales certification projects, including four steps: defining evaluation goals and indicators, collecting and analyzing data, summarizing and sharing lessons learned, and formulating follow-up action plans. This paper also shows the application and effect of this framework with the case of some brand sales certification projects served by Champ Consulting.

Step 1: Define assessment objectives and indicators

The purpose of evaluating a brand sales certification project is to understand whether the project is completed in accordance with the established scope, time, cost, quality and other requirements, and whether the project has achieved the desired results, such as enhancing brand awareness, reputation, loyalty and so on. Therefore, before starting the assessment, the objectives and indicators of the assessment need to be clearly defined to facilitate subsequent data collection and analysis.

Assessment objectives can be tailored to different stakeholders, such:

For the brand side, the evaluation goal may be to understand whether the brand sales certification has a positive impact on brand image, market share, consumer satisfaction and so on;

For third-party organizations, the evaluation goal may be to understand whether brand sales certification has improved the organization's reputation, professionalism, and cooperative relationships;

For consumers, the evaluation goal may be to understand whether brand sales certification has changed consumers' trust, purchase intention, and recommend intention.

Assessment indicators are specific data or information used to measure the achievement of assessment objectives, such:

Brand image indicators: through questionnaires or social media analysis, to collect changes in consumer awareness, attitudes, emotions and other aspects of the brand;

Market share indicators: you can compare the market share or growth rate of brand sales before and after certification through sales data or market research;

Consumer satisfaction indicators: consumer satisfaction or loyalty to the brand can be understood through satisfaction surveys or online review analysis;

Institutional reputation indicators: the visibility or influence of an institution in the industry can be assessed through media coverage or word-of-mouth communication;

Professional indicators: can be verified by audit reports or quality certification, etc., to verify that the organization's verification methods or standards meet industry norms or customer requirements;

Cooperative relationship indicators: whether the cooperation process or results between the organization and the brand side are smooth or satisfactory can be evaluated through communication records or satisfaction surveys;

Consumer trust index: the degree of trust or trust of consumers for brand sales certification can be understood through trust survey or behavior analysis;

Purchase intention indicator: the purchase behavior or decision of consumers after seeing the brand sales certification can be measured by means of purchase rate or conversion rate;

recommend willingness indicator: You can observe whether consumers are willing to recommend to others about brands that have been certified by brand sales through recommendation rates or word-of-mouth communication.

Step 2: Collect and analyze data

Once the assessment objectives and indicators are defined, it is necessary to select the appropriate data collection and analysis methods based on the type and source of the indicators. Data collection and analysis methods can be divided into qualitative and quantitative:

Qualitative methods refer to the collection and analysis of data through non-numerical methods, such as interviews, observations, and document analysis. Qualitative methods are suitable for evaluating the process, quality, and impact of a project, and can help understand the reasons, motivations, and feelings behind the project.

Quantitative methods refer to the collection and analysis of data through numerical methods, such as questionnaires, statistics, calculations, etc. Quantitative methods are suitable for evaluating the results, effects, and benefits of a project, and can help measure the specific performance, changes, and differences of the project.

When collecting and analyzing data, you need to pay attention to the following points:

The data should be valid, that is, able to reflect the real situation of the assessment objectives and indicators;

The data should be reliable, that is, to ensure that the same or similar results can be obtained repeatedly under different conditions such as time, place and personnel;

Data should be relevant, that is, they can be directly or indirectly linked to assessment objectives and indicators;

Data should be sufficient to cover all phases, aspects, stakeholders, etc. of the project;

The data should be timely, that is, it can be collected and analyzed as soon as possible after the end of the project.

Step 3: Summing up and sharing lessons learned

After collecting and analyzing the data, it is necessary to summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the project and the lessons learned from it based on the results of the data. Lessons learned refer to the problems and solutions found in the course of the project, as well as the success and failure factors demonstrated in the project results. Summarizing and sharing lessons learned can help improve project management, avoid repeated mistakes, and replicate successfully.

In summing up lessons learned, the following questions need to be answered:

What aspects of the project are well done and why?

What aspects of the project are not well done and why?

What are the problems of the project and how to solve them?

What are the success factors of the project and how can it be maintained?

What are the failure factors of the project and how to improve it?

When sharing lessons learned, the following points need to be noted:

Lessons learned should be specific, I .e. able to describe clearly the situation, causes, effects, solutions, etc. of the problem or success;

Lessons learned should be objective, I .e. able to be based on data or facts, rather than subjective feelings or biases;

Lessons learned should be useful, I .e., able to guide or inform current or future projects;

Lessons learned should be shared, I .e. be able to communicate or communicate with the project team or other stakeholders through appropriate means and channels.

Step 4: Develop a follow-up action plan

Once lessons learned are captured and shared, a follow-up action plan needs to be developed based on the lessons learned content to facilitate the translation of lessons learned into practical improvements. The follow-up action plan is a series of concrete, feasible and quantifiable action plans for the advantages and disadvantages of the project, as well as the success and failure factors. The development of a follow-up action plan will help to improve the sustainability and effectiveness of the brand sales certification program.

When developing a follow-up action plan, the following questions need to be answered:

How can the strengths and success factors of the project be maintained or enhanced?

How to improve or eliminate the shortcomings and failure factors of the project?

How to continue or expand the impact and effect of the project?

For project stakeholders, how do they meet or exceed their expectations?

When implementing the follow-up action plan, the following points need to be noted:

Follow-up action plans should have clear responsible persons, time points, resource requirements, expected results, etc;

the follow-up action plan should have an effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism, as well as necessary adjustment and optimization measures;

The follow-up action plan should have good communication and collaboration mechanisms, as well as the necessary support and incentives.

Case analysis

In order to better illustrate the framework and methods for evaluating and ending brand sales certification projects, this article will combine some cases of brand sales certification projects served by Champ Consulting to make a simple analysis.

Case 1: Sales Certification of a Home Appliance Brand

In order to enhance its competitiveness in the market and consumer trust, a home appliance brand commissioned Shangpu Consulting to conduct a brand sales certification. Shangpu Consulting verified the sales of the brand in air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines and other categories by collecting and analyzing data from major e-commerce platforms, offline stores and third-party data organizations, and issued an authoritative brand sales certification report. The report shows that the brand has achieved market-leading or top results in multiple categories, and has also performed well in consumer satisfaction. The report was reprinted by several media outlets and sparked widespread discussion and attention on social media.

Assessment objectives and indicators:

For the brand side, the evaluation objective is to understand the impact of brand sales certification on brand image, market share, consumer satisfaction and other aspects, and the evaluation indicators include brand recognition, brand reputation, brand loyalty, market share, market growth rate, consumer satisfaction and so on;

For Shangpu Consulting, the evaluation objective is to understand the promotion of brand sales certification to Shangpu Consulting's reputation, professionalism and cooperation relationship. The evaluation indicators include media coverage, media positive rate, industry popularity, industry influence, verification method quality, verification standard compliance, cooperation process smoothness, cooperation result satisfaction, etc.

Methods of data collection and analysis:

Qualitative method: collect and analyze the opinions and feelings of the internal staff, partners, consumers and other stakeholders of the brand and Shangpu Consulting on the brand sales certification by means of interviews, observations and document analysis;

Quantitative method: collect and analyze the sales data, market data, media data, social media data and other objective data of brand parties and Shangpu Consulting through questionnaires, statistics, calculations, etc.

lessons learned and sharing:

Advantages and success factors of the project: clear project planning, efficient implementation, strict monitoring and smooth communication; scientific project verification method, strict verification standard and authoritative verification results; comprehensive project report, attractive report form and wide spread;

Project shortcomings and failure factors: the project cost is high, the resource utilization rate is not high, the project impact period is short, the sustainability is not strong, the project effect is difficult to quantify, the benefit is not obvious;

Project problems and solutions: During the project, some unstable or unreliable data sources were encountered, which were resolved through multi-party verification or finding alternative data sources; after the project, some consumers encountered doubts or distrust about brand sales certification, which were resolved through timely response or provision of evidence.

Follow-up action plan development and implementation:

According to the advantages and success factors of the project, maintain or enhance the action plan: continue to use the verification methods and standards of Shangpu consulting, and regularly carry out brand sales certification; continue to optimize the report content and form of Shangpu consulting, and increase the attractiveness of brand sales certification; continue to expand the report communication channels and scope of Shangpu consulting, and improve the popularity of brand sales certification;

Action plans to improve or eliminate the shortcomings and failure factors of the project: reduce the verification cost of Shangpu Consulting and improve the utilization rate of resources; extend the reporting period of Shangpu Consulting and increase the continuity; establish the effect evaluation system of Shangpu Consulting and define the benefits;

For the project impact and effect, the continuation or expansion of the action plan: the use of the report results of the Shangpu consulting, carry out follow-up marketing activities or public relations activities, increase the purchase intention of consumers or recommend intention.