Question

Topic: Taglines/Names

Choosing A New Name For A Collection Agency

Posted by Anonymous on 5/2/2007 at 2:51 PM ET 250 Points
We are a collection agency, and our major client has 2 physicians that has the same name as our company. These 2 physicians have requested we change our business name for reasons that has nothing to do with us or the excellent services we are providing to them. They were approached on a couple of occasions and asked if they had now opened their own collection agency to collect their own accounts. The physicians don't want any potential confusion with us and them, thus the request for us to change our business name. We were actually considering changing our business name due to one of the names is from a previous owner, however due to many legal issues with the Federal and State regulating bodies, we just haven't done so, but now that a major client has made a request it is probably time to do so and in order to keep this client, we have to do a name change. Thinking about using the "initials" of our company so that it is a small subtle change. However I am torn about using a name that better identifies what type of services we provide. {ex: collection solutions} That however is not a name we can use due to legal issues regarding communication. We can't use any terminology that implies collections, however for marketing purposes it is great. Any suggestions?

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by excellira on 5/2/2007 at 2:56 PM Accepted
    It is too bad you can't use "collection" terms because:

    Call Collect

    Would be great. ;-)
  • Posted by excellira on 5/2/2007 at 3:10 PM Member

    I can see benefits to "initializing" your name to prevent confusion with current clients and vendors so it does have some value.

    In my opinion however, unless you have powerful brand awareness already (IBM) it would not be a first choice. What would initials have to do with what you do?

    One thing you could do is setup a d/b/a and use the initials when collecting for the two clients with the similar names. Then you would not need to change your name and you would be eliminating the conflict.

    If you do wish to change the name, another benefit is that this will buy you some time while you create a new name. Without time pressure.

    I have noticed that it is difficult to obtain good names on forums. It takes a long, tedious process to create a great name and most of the professionals who respond are coming up with names off the top of their heads (myself included). We just couldn't spend the hours/days/weeks to create something great. I have seen this proven wrong on occasion though.

    Best of luck. If I think of something I'll post it.

    Also, you may have posted this in an incorrect area. Did you intend to post in the SEO/SEM area?
  • Posted by Shell Harris on 5/2/2007 at 3:57 PM Accepted
    This really isn't an SEO question, but since you asked it here I'll tell you that changing your domain name means you are starting from scratch in the search engines. So don't expect to see much action from visitors finding you in the search results.

    Try to pick a domain name that will communicate what you do in three or four syllables at most. Two is best. Don't use hyphens, numbers or misspellings. In the end a good Internet marketing campaign will overcome any domain name, but keeping it simple is a good idea for many reasons. Look at the best domains: Yahoo, Google, Ebay, CNN, BigOakInc, myspace, youtube and of course BigOakInc. Sorry, I couldn't resist adding my own domain. ;-)
  • Posted by excellira on 5/2/2007 at 9:21 PM Member
    If you keep the file and category structure the same you can easily do a domain redirect. If done properly you can preserve some of the value of the old domain.
  • Posted by excellira on 5/2/2007 at 9:23 PM Member
    Also, using hyphens can actually be helpful because google sees them as spaces but I would suggest owning the unhyphenated version of the domain as well.
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