I had a past life as a Creative Director of radio stations in the 80’s and early 90’s. So much fun!
This role saw me writing radio ads, directing production and being a professional voiceover.
I wrote for all sorts of clients, and my key question for all of them was, “What makes you different? Why should someone buy from you? What are the benefits?
Shopping Centre clients would notoriously say “Oh you can shop in airconditioned comfort and there’s plenty of parking.”
NO just NO.
That’s what you expect.
Today I am facilitating entrepreneurs and their teams to develop their Brand Energy Blueprint. A powerful suite of guiding intentions and qualities, the combination of which, is their true personalised differentiation.
One of the five elements I facilitate, is Values, and when I do this, I am sometimes transported back to my Shopping Centre Clients of the 80’s.
Today, quality, safety, service and looking after our people and planet are expected. They are hygiene factors, they are, the airconditioned comfort and plenty of parking, of the 80’s.
These qualities are expected. They are core competencies of a business. They are among the critical foundations that a business needs, to operate successfully.
Critical foundations may vary from business to business, but here is a set of qualities that may relate to your business.
They are important, yes, you wouldn’t have a successful business without them, but they belong at the very functional core of what you do. Ensure they are an integral part of your business plan, they are built into your operations and managed accordingly.
But be clear, they are not values and not differentiators. We have evolved and need to set new benchmarks.
Believe me, your clients and business relationships are looking for more.
Your Values qualify HOW you intend to operate and look after your relationships.
They contribute to the higher expression of who you are and provide the context for the clients and relationships you want to attract. Like attracts like.
So, if safety is a core competency for your business, then HOW are you going to operate more safely?
Do your team members need to be caring, considered, respectful?
These potential Values can be employed for all of your core competencies, looking after your people, profits, planet and determining your service, quality of offering and your safety.
And that is what a suite of business values should be, clear actionable intentions that are general.
Values are the bedrock of WHO you are as a business and describe HOW you operate. They are not specific to your business or product. This means if market conditions change, or your products change, you can retain your recognised values and accumulated brand equity and pivot accordingly.
If you are keen to explore what makes you different as a business and define a set of guidelines for HOW you operate (your values) that everyone in your team develops together and agrees upon, then type VALUES in the comments below and we can chat.
If you own a small business and live in Perth, you can also sign up for my annual Work a Life You Love workshop series and join a small cohort (12) business owners to define your unique Brand Energy elements including your values. These workshops will run from Feb 20 to April 3, 2025 and spaces are limited. DM me for details.
Cath Sutherland is the Director of Conscious Business – helping businesses to understand who they are, so they can do business better. Cath facilitates teams and leaders through her unique Creating Brand Energy process to develop, through collective consensus, their unique Conscious Business Blueprint – a clear, multi-level guide to manage, direct and develop relationships, operations, and product delivery. Cath can be reached at cath@consciousbusiness.net.au
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