Cheers! Your company has a clearly defined brand – 
a simple, relevant customer promise that competitively gives you an edge. Check that off the list, right? Absolutely! But before you move on to other things, have you thought about your internal processes?
What must you do internally to execute the brand? To make it come alive? Become more than just a piece of paper? Ensure that your customers understand the brand as you intended?
Before you talk about your brand to the masses, you need to first look within to be sure you’re delivering on that brand throughout the organization. You don’t want to set an expectation that disappoints later! So consider this carefully – What are your customer touch points? Think about ALL of them, from where your store is located to how well the product performs or even how clean the front desk is when you walk in the door.
They’re all important.
Ergo, all companies need to identify and proactively manage their brand at all points of customer contact. Make a list of your contact points. Especially the less obvious ones like:
- the way your phone is answered
- how seamless your billing processes are for customers
- what your employees say to others about their job
- the attire of your salespeople
- the quality of your packaging
- the functionality and ease of navigating your website
- your response time for customer questions
Basically, everything you say and do as an organization reflects on your brand. Look carefully at your internal processes. If you’re experiencing problems at a touch point, they need to be addressed – you don’t want a seemingly minor issue to be the string that unravels all the work you put into building your brand. Assess each item on your list, and then prioritize those you need to change.
The goal is to eliminate negative experiences and keep or build on areas in which you are strong. Strong in communicating the brand promise.
Often, we ask a client, “If you do everything right, what’s the one thing you want your target to remember about you? If we conducted research now, would they give that answer?”
This is the fun part, folks! Branding and marketing rocks! Every company has struggles, but strategic marketing built on a strong brand is the impetus for success!
Go team!
Julie Porter is the chief rocker at Front Porch Marketing. You can follow her, julie_porter, or her company, itsfrontporch, on Instagram; and Twitter @juliedporter01 or @itsfrontporch; and like us on Facebook at FrontPorchMktg.