Jeff Edson of Restoration Roofing, formerly Western Systems Inc., in Longmont, Colo., had a dilemma. There was another roofing company nearby with a similar name (Western Roofing) and customers tended to confuse the two, so Jeff decided to enact a name change. He sought my opinion on his marketing strategy for a mailing campaign to inform clients of the name change to Restoration Roofing.

Everything Jeff was doing seemed right on the money to me, I advised. Since some people mixed up his company with another, it was a good idea to get the name changed, and the new one he'd chosen aptly described his business specialty. While he doubted that name confusion cost him any business, having two companies in a marketplace with a similar name can be unsettling. You have control over your company's performance and reputation, but can do nothing about the way others run theirs. Potential exists for bad publicity or liabilities associated with another company to cascade onto yours.