In the past, I've spoken on my podcast and blogged about brand foundations, intentionally aligning your values, repelling and attracting your customers, and the concept of 'zagging', which refers to differentiating your brand from competitors uniquely and unexpectedly.
Those blogs led to the creation of this blog to help small businesses.
We'll discuss delivering on your brand promise today. The old adage that 'actions speak louder than words' rings true. Bear that in mind as you read.
Successful businesses deliver exceptional service throughout the whole customer journey.
Think about a business that lost its way and ended up shutting down because it didn't adapt its business as technology evolved.
Blockbuster didn't adapt; its service wasn't exceptional. It did what people expected. You went in and rented 3 DVDS for a week, and that was it. They went from cornering the market to dead. At the same time, for a cheaper price, Netflix gives you seemingly infinite choices without leaving the house.
If you wanted, you could binge-watch episodes of Stranger Things and Orange is the New Black for a month. That's delivering an incredible customer journey.
If you learn one tiny thing from me, it's this: your brand is worth nothing if you can't uphold a promise through each customer interaction.
It's crucial that your branding aligns seamlessly with your customer experience. This alignment is the key to longevity and building authentic connections with your audience.
So, answer this: can you stick your branding and customer experience in a blender?
No. We have to get our lab coats on and make a culture.
Like a good sourdough culture, it requires patience, feeding, and the right atmosphere. It's not something that happens overnight.
A good culture is the best way to ensure your company delivers on a brand promise.
Why? Because if your staff send mixed messages about what your brand stands for, your customers won't connect. The easiest way is to look at it with an inside-out approach.
You need to look at four things to give to nurture that little sourdough culture:
Unify your team through your brand mission
Unifying your team through your brand mission is a powerful way to foster a strong team spirit and shared vision. We discussed Brand Missions on the Intentionally Aligning Your Brand episode of the podcast. A brand mission is a statement that defines the purpose and values of your business. Your team needs to understand your how, what, and why, as outlined in your brand mission, to provide a unified outlook and deliver on your brand promise.
If you provide a clear vision, your team can pour their hearts into it and become a tight-knit little unit. One way to look at that is to have weekly hands-on meetings so people can throw out ideas and know what's happening day-to-day. You can also solve problems, inform them about the evolution of the business, and see how your goals are being tracked.
Hire people with your brand promise in mind
When hiring, it's essential to look for candidates who embody your brand's values. This approach ensures that they're aligned with your brand's promise, making it easier to instil in them the importance of delivering on it.
It's important not to hire someone in a customer-facing or leadership role, especially if they don't align with the brand's thinking. If they pull in a completely different direction, they'll struggle to deliver the brand's promise.
Include your team in brand strategy development
Transforming your brand's delivery is easy if you empower your team to get involved. Your brand strategy will constantly evolve — it won't be stuck for 15 or 20 years.
Get them involved in planning out your vision. Looking at your values and setting values together is so good. It gives them that sense of ownership and makes them invest in the brand to incorporate the values, vision, and feelings the brand wants to communicate. It all starts to become second nature! It's going to really help align your culture.
Accept employee feedback
Critical to my design work has been the ability to accept feedback constructively. It might be a new way of seeing how you can complete a task.
That thing you created might be amazing without feedback from customers, peers and staff. Still, it is going in a totally wrong direction.
So, encourage your team to give you feedback and let them share their thoughts and criticisms openly. Let them be open with you, be humble and respectful, and you'll start building a great culture.
Feedback is vital to future plans – and helps improve systems and end results.
Four tips for cultivating your brand's culture and delivering your brand promise are:
- Unify your team with your mission.
- Hire the right people. If you're not ready to hire, that's ok. You need to be super confident in your values and understand your vision.
- Involve your team in your brand's development. If you don't have a team, you can involve family members and people who want to help and get involved. Even if you don't have staff, there will be people you can bounce ideas off.
Encourage open and respectful feedback, and accept that sometimes there is a better way to do something.
