Create a spring cleaning list for your brand

 ~ 30 min DIY brand building exercise #1 ~

It is time to give your business a spring cleaning and get it ready for building it into a blossoming brand!

In writing on this theme, I have decided for this blog post to channel the sage words of Simon Middleton, the self-described brand strategy guru. He has a lot of really great things to say about building a brand. In fact he has written a book called, 'Build A Brand In 30 Days.' (anything in quotes is from his book)

While it will in reality take you longer than 30 days to craft a brand that grows without much effort, its beginning chapter highlights what every business needs to do, which is sit down as a team and review the business from top to bottom, inside and outside. 

It is a spring cleaning for your business. I suggest that you do this before you brief your branding agency or your marketing/PR firm for your next marketing campaign. It is well worth doing and will likely lead to an increase in sales.

Step 1 of spring cleaning is to decide if you want to be a commodity or a brand :

You have two choices with your business. You can either be a commodity or a brand. 

Yes, it is that simple.

Many businesses survive as a commodity. It is a tough road though. "You need to be cheaper, quicker and more convenient than your competitors." This is what customers expect of you.

As a brand you are judged on different criteria.

There are benefits and meanings that customers buying in each industry expect to see, but once you know what those are and make them your own, you can add your own brand personality to them. You aren't tied into being cheaper, quicker and more convenient, although you will likely be pressured to be. Owning your brand is like putting on that stunning suit and shoes that make you look and feel confident. It is okay to say 'no' to something that doesn't fit with your brand, or branding message.

Step 2 of spring cleaning is to measure which aspects of your business are strengths/positives :

• Draw a large A2 size North/South East/West diagram
• Put 'positive' at north, 'negative' at south, 'weak' at west and 'strength' at east.
• Now put your brand's characteristics/offerings on the diagram and see where your business has strengths and where your customers are positive about your brand.

Examples of what to measure : people recognise your brand, you have a clear message(positioning slogan) that fits expectations of customers of your market, size of your geographic brand area, your name, services, pricing, ownership, guarantees, offers, personality, business emphasis, logo, website, staff, your brand is understandable to the customer, words and descriptions and imagery that describes your brand, what comes to your customer's mind when your brand is brought up, repeat business

This diagram is a spider web of all aspects of your business that you customer can see, feel, touch, experience, dream about, cringe about, watch, imagine, hope, aspire to....etc. This is an exercise of seeing your brand through the eyes of your customer. Hopefully you find it fun and enlightening.

Step 3 of spring cleaning is to ask your customer what they think :

....what they think about your self-identified strengths and positives. If you don't know what your customers think about you, ask the next one that walks in the door. Ask why they elected to buy from you. Those answers will be your true strengths and positives.

Do they think you deliver your slogan/positioning line? Do they understand your logo? Does your store environment fit your product(price of your product). Ask what your brand means to them in regards to quality, value and service. Ask about characteristics of your business that you weren't sure where to position on your diagram. Ask where you can improve.

Now in another colour write your new customer revealed strengths and positives on your diagram. Don't forget to put the weaknesses and negatives on there too.

Step 4 of spring cleaning is to sweep away the negatives & weaknesses cluttering your business:

Here is the action part and it is the most important thing you will do for your business this year.

• On your diagram sheet if you have room - Make 3 columns and at the top of columns put 'Focus On', 'Fix' and 'Stop Doing'
• Everything written on your diagram can now be placed in one of those columns.
• In the 'Focus On' column put the positives and strengths identified by your customers.
• In the 'Fix' column you'll need to use your best judgement and put the items from all 4 quadrants that you/your team identified as crucial to your business/industry, but your customers weren't wowed by your efforts.
• In the 'Stop Doing' column are all the rest of the time wasting things that you have left in the strengths/positive quadrants of your diagram and the listed weaknesses/negatives in the other quadrants that you obviously haven't been doing well.
• Only list items once.

There is your brand spring cleaning list! 

Step 5 of spring cleaning is to come up with a strategy :

• Create a strategy on how to improve each item in the 'Focus On' column and how much time/money/effort should be allocated to each. Give the tasks and act on them.
• Pick one item on the 'Fix' list and come up with a strategy for fixing the issue. Implement your plan and see if you see any measured change in your customers' behavior.  

For example : more people come in, you get compliments, or you get less complaints than usual.

• Stop doing everything in the 'Stop Doing' column.

This doesn't mean stop doing your taxes. These are all the things you are doing for your customer that they don't see the need for, you aren't making money on, you are losing money on and the customer doesn't appreciate.

Good luck and send me comments and let me know how you did on this task and whether it helped your small business.