Have you thought about the values of your company? If you have, chances are that this was an exercise you went through as you created a web site, social media page, or other longer-form marketing collateral that forced you to take a deeper dive into what you stand for. But once we step away from the writer’s desk, do we still reflect the values we identified through our actions? And how often do we review those words in future years to make sure they still line up?
When you go through the exercise of evaluating what values are important in your company culture, it is important that the words you choose will match the reality of the experience a customer will have with you.
If you have employees, or if the first line of customer service is not just you, values are not just whatever qualities you want your company to showcase. The values you share in your marketing should jive with what your customer will see of your business no matter whom they interact with.
In fact, a customer may choose your business over a competitor’s simply because they identify with what you stand for. As soon as they see firsthand that your company appears to be something other than what you said it would be, that dissonance will leave them feeling cold. It is a different kind of bait and switch.
We do not generally intend to create that discord. However, if you thought about your values once many years ago, and the company has changed and grown around you, perhaps this is a good time for you to go back and make sure that the principles you have connected yourself with are still in alignment with the way your company carries out its business.
Ultimately, your customers will thank you for the alignment by continuing their business with you.