The 3 mistakes organizations make that effect long-term success

No matter how great your logo or strategy, if you don’t deliver on your brand’s promise your organization will flounder or die. Neither is what you want.

A brand promise is what you say you’re going to deliver and the expectations you create in the customers’ or donors’ minds. Fred Smith built FedEx with great commercials that featured an extremely memorable tagline that is “absolutely positively” stuck in our minds. They were clear about what they were going to deliver and they made good on the promise. They have become the yardstick we measure other carriers by.

Business leaders make three critical mistakes in developing and executing their brand’s promise.

The first mistake is to refuse to recognize that consumers develop expectations about the brand before they ever come into contact with it.

Whether you realize it or not, customers start to interpret your brand’s promise based on things as simple as the market segment you’re in. If you run a gourmet restaurant, customers will create a mental picture of a dining experience vastly different than the one they expect at the local diner. This is one of the many reasons you must agonize over the smallest details. Items you see as trivial all send messages interpreted by the customer.

The second critical error is to use a system that contributes to a negative experience for the customer or donor.

Leaders focus on creating efficiencies to save time and money. Humans tend to be self-centered creatures, so our natural thought is to save time for us and save money for us.

Do you take credit cards? Why don’t you? Do you take all of the major credit cards or do you just take Visa and MasterCard? If you don’t take cards at all or don’t take American Express, does it have anything to do with the cost? Look at what you’re saving compared to the sales you’re losing. What other systems do you have in place that are a hassle for customers or donors? If service is part of your brand promise, any small detail that inconveniences the customer says “We’re not really service oriented” and encourages the customer or donor to go somewhere else.

The third mistake is failure to hire “only” the best candidates. When you fall prey to the warm-body syndrome and hire just about anyone who applies, then fail to invest the time and effort to effectively train them, you are setting your customers up for a mediocre experience at best, and a terrible experience at worst. Your brand promise is delivered by your staff. If your goal is to be the leader in your market segment you’ll never get there unless you take the time to invest in selecting only the finest staff possible.

Your next step: Review where you stand on these 3 issues and get opinions from others who will give you honest information. Need help?

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