Page 22 - Delivering Authentic Customer Experiences

Principle 1 Delivering Authentic Customer Experiences

Brand YOU!

Aligning your personal and organisational values is essential,
particularly for small businesses. Your brand is influenced by these
values, forms the basis of your company’s culture and is a means
of communicating your purpose, principles and practices. Your
brand values play a huge part in positioning your business,
aligning it with the right customers and attracting your ideal
clients. A Values Statement is not something that can be set by a
board of directors, filtered down and forgotten. It has to be lived
and practiced every day by everyone to be totally embedded and
believed. People must see these values being demonstrated
through your behaviour and backed up with everything that
represents you, from promotional materials, systems and
processes to the attitudes of your employees.

Whether you like it or not, as a business owner or entrepreneur,
you and your organisation are constantly being judged by the
people you meet socially and professionally. Whatever you do or
say, whatever you’re wearing, and whoever or whatever you’re
connected with, will say something about YOU. The concept of
personal branding has been around for some time. Madonna,
David Beckham and Richard Branson, all have their own unique
image and their very profitable commercial brands have emerged
as a consequence. It seems you can no longer choose whether or
not to have a personal brand but just how well you manage it. Get
it wrong and you can waste a great deal of time, energy, money
and professional credibility.

Have you ever met with a potential service provider who turned
you off? Perhaps they offered the services you wanted, in the
location that suited you, at a price you were happy to pay, but you
decided they weren’t right for you. Even now you may not be able
to explain exactly why you weren’t comfortable with the thought

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