Great Brands That Compete On Value: Harness The Power Of Their People

Chances are, you’ve heard the phrase “teamwork makes the dream work” used in a professional setting. Although used frequently enough to toe the cliché line, it really is true. Synergy is essential, but I’d like to offer another angle to consider: If you’ve attained that within your team, share the news about what makes your personnel special with your fellow community members who constitute the local marketplace.

A business/organization is only as good as the team that runs it, with those people being its most valuable asset. These are the individuals who are responsible for performing the mission-critical tasks within an organization, whether the face of the organization and the ones who are in front of current and potential customers or those behind the scenes/screens. Either way, they are making the impression that will be remembered long past the interaction strictly for the purpose of conducting business. Thus, they are a valuable part of your brand, breathing life into its personality – a construct that should be carefully shaped and developed upon over time.

Brand personality is defined as “a set of human characteristics that are attributed to a brand name. A brand personality is something to which a consumer can relate…it refers to the outcome of all the consumer’s experiences with a brand. In other words, it’s the weighted average of previous impressions. In the consumer’s mind, these impressions merge to form an overall concept of what to expect from a brand.” The brand personality – its distinct core traits – is what makes a business/organization recognizable, remembered, and relatable; one that people can identify with on a personal level. This connection when done right is worth its weight in gold. We all gravitate towards certain personalities, and the same is true with brands attracting consumers. Without a doubt, your people and the talent you have within your organization are an integral part of your branding efforts, contributing to the sum of all that makes up its unique personality.

The brand personality – its distinct core traits – is what makes a business/organization recognizable, remembered, and relatable; one that people can identify with on a personal level. 

I’ve said it before (many times, as I’m sure our loyal readers are well aware), and I’ll say it again (because I believe in the power of consistent messaging) – People do business with who they know and like. The relationships you are able to build within the community or communities in which you do business will ultimately determine your long-term success. In terms of familiarity with a business owner, management, and employees alike, those who are visible and well known in their community and among their target market have a leg up on the competition.

While there are many ways you could make an introduction or increase the comfort level of making contact, one of the easiest is to familiarize the community with the faces, stature/tenure/positions, expertise, qualifications, achievements, community contributions, etc. within your team. By sharing your personnel news, you are making a valuable, no-pressure introduction before the actual shaking of hands, moving the call from a cold one into somewhat warmer territory. Even if just to educate or praise, personnel news is a great tool for branding, similar to the power of networking.

There are a lot of factors that influence our actions and choices regarding with whom we do business. However, in making the decision between two or more options, we are much more inclined to choose one where we know someone personally, are familiar or connected with someone there in some way, or have been referred by someone we know and trust. It’s one of the most compelling factors, in my opinion.

In closing, I encourage you to take the opportunity to spotlight your team when warranted and acquaint those in our community with who they are and what makes them special. An effective way to do just that would be to send us your personnel news for consideration in one of our upcoming publications. And of course, make sure to check out the personnel news in this month’s issue and familiarize yourself with some of the talented professionals in the area!


To learn more about how Strictly Business can help you, contact me directly at (402) 466-3330 or visit StrictlyBusinessOmaha.com/connect. (You can also click on our Staff Letter tab online to view past articles)