Your company has gone through the branding exercise and has a clearly defined brand! Cheers to you! 

And by that I mean 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 what you must do internally to execute the brand? To make it come alive? To become more than just a piece of paper? To 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. What are your customer touch points?

Think about ALL of them, like 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.

Here’s an example. My parents, who are in their late seventies, recently had an eye doctor appointment which had been scheduled some months prior. When they showed up at the office, the staff told them the ophthalmologist wasn’t in – he was stuck in another city due to weather. What? Hello? Could the staff not call patients to reschedule before the trek to the office? Even though the doctor is an excellent ophthalmologist, his brand was tarnished that day by his people. If this happens enough, patients will leave.

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. 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’re strong. Strong as in communicating the brand promise.

Often, I’ll 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! Marketing rocks! Every company has struggles, but strategic marketing built on a strong brand is the impetus for success!