Help getting started

Evaluate your business - take a realistic look at how it operates and the messages that you want to, and can, deliver consistently.

There are five critical areas to consider.

1. Work out core strengths - what you achieve for your customer, not necessarily what you do
2. Assess who your existing customers are and research their likes/dislikes
3. Find out what your customers and staff feel about your business. Are you reliable? Attentive? Cheap? Expensive? Extravagant? Consider these emotional responses (or brand values), they will form the basis of your message
4. Clarify how favourably customers and potential customers regard your business - this is your perceived quality. Do they trust you and your product or service? Do they know precisely what it does for them? What do they think of when your brand is mentioned?
5. Review how far your business can evolve with its current customer perception without moving away from your core abilities.

Ask for regular feedback from your most friendly customers and ask them if their experience of your business matches up to the expectation created by your brand.

Be prepared to ask former or dissatisfied customers too - honest criticism can help you learn the most useful lessons.

Developing and making brand guidelines available to your staff and suppliers will make sure your message is reinforced in every form of communication, strengthening your brand and your company's values.

Following some simple rules should make sure its effect continues.

1. Always consider what your business achieves for your customers, structure your business to achieve it. Focus on your customers’ needs, but remember it is your brand
2. Ensure the brand message is delivered consistently. From answering the phone to signing off an email, your customers should always feel you are providing them with the service your brand promises.
3. Keep your employees involved. They will be responsible for making the brand work so everyone needs to believe in it. Always consider, and act on if possible, any suggestions they make
4. Exceed what your brand promises. Failing to deliver a brand promise just once will damage your brand. Delivering to a higher level will strengthen your brand.