Here’s my unpopular opinion: Most companies have reeeeeaaaaalllly BORING brand values. Like, falling asleep, ignored like the wallpaper in the second bedroom kind of boring.
Which is a massive shame and a REAL missed opportunity.
So how do you make sure that your biz is not ‘that guy?’
Your values should be:
• Authentic (actually true and things you actually believe in)
• Motivational for everyone in your biz
• Memorable for you, certainly all of your staff and ideally your customers too (but don’t get too excited about that)
• Credible, something you’re all able to live up to within the biz
• Tell us a bit more about your personality
• REALLY Unique to your biz!
If you get your values right – they create a huge opportunity to win customers who are sitting on the fence and also, to attract the right staff.
PLEASE! DON’T HAVE BORING BRAND VALUES
Don’t tell your customer something they’d already assumed about your business. Use your values to tell them MORE about you on an emotional level (what you care about & what matters to you).
We’ve all worked for companies with BORING values before. Who can remember the values of ANY company they’ve worked for in the past?
There are three key ways to make your organisation’s values are MUCH more memorable than that
1. Only have 3-5 (because frankly, people can’t remember very much)
2. Use images, icons or a mnemonic to help with recall
3. Make sure they reflect your brand strategy – in particular the personality (to achieve this – write them in your brand tone of voice).
If you do ALL of those things then they CAN’T POSSIBLY look and sound like any other biz, right?
PLEASE NO! TERRIBLE BRAND VALUES
Honesty, Integrity, Trustworthy, Reliability, Fairness, Respect.
Which business or organisation is that? Yes, that’s right, just about every single one!
These are things that your customer has probably assumed about your biz already if they’re even thinking about doing business with you. Now you’re making them wonder why you have to make such a big deal about it!
What’s more, the customer is the one who actually gets to decide whether you are living up to any of those things or not. No matter what you say – they will form their own opinion.
ALSO NO! THESE ARE NOT GOOD BRAND VALUES
Sustainability (this one is now moving from value to expectation), Passion, Knowledge, Customer Service, Commitment, Quality.
I’m not saying don’t have these themes at the heart of your values if they do reflect how you do business. But please find other ways to say these them that will help your customer
1.start paying attention to you
2.understand your unique way of offering those things.
In my (perhaps again, unpopular) opinion – sustainability isn’t a value. It’s a ‘way.’ The way you DO business. It’s not JUST a value. In fact, it’s almost too big a deal to be listed as one of your values. Why not have a whole page on your website dedicated to talking about all the ways your business is sustainable?
Think about the values you have. Do they measure up?
Do they tell more of your story?
Do they help you get the customer’s attention?
Would they attract the right staff?
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WITH YOUR BRAND VALUES?
Once you have your FANTASTIC, unique values, what should you do with them?
You talk about them at every opportunity!
To make the most of them, put them in a prominent position on your website, on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook…
Wherever it may be, your customer should easily be able to find your values. Your values help you FIND YOUR TRIBE and once a customer has self-identified that you are a company or organisation that can solve a problem they have, your values are a quick way to tell them a bit more about you, and what it’s going to be like doing business with you, now that you have their attention.
Do your values do this for your business?
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