Building a Quality Brand

Everything that leaves your business should be beautiful in some way.

The definition of beautiful is roughly this: possessing qualities that give great sensory pleasure. Going a step further, beauty is resonant—meaning it speaks to something beyond the senses. People seek beauty because it has a connecting quality. For example, a beautiful work of art transcends the canvas and paint, connecting the creative consciousness of the artist with the creative consciousness of the beholder.

The same thing happens any time people encounter something truly beautiful—whether it’s a brake rotor or financial software—they connect with it on a visceral level. So it’s vitally important that everything (products, services, communications, etc.—everything) leaving an organization is exceptional in some way.

The Definition of Beautiful in an Individual Business

The definition of beauty is different for every industry and every individual business. A good starting point is to list everything that originates in a particular place of business and what attributes the perfect version would have. For example, emails would be clear and to the point with no typos or grammatical errors; company vehicles would be clean, without chipped letters and body damage. The challenge is to encompass everything (tangible and intangible) that leaves the place of business.

Creating Standards of Beauty

The best way to ensure beauty is to create tools that lead to standards. These will include: templates, specifications, style guides, and prototypes. Also, try to shift the focus from time-to-task. This means that employees should be encouraged to take the time they need to do the best possible job. Although time constraints are very much a reality, having standards in place (templates, specifications, etc.) will facilitate both beauty and efficiency.

Consistently Beautiful

Everyone should equate the organization with beauty. The only way to accomplish this is to be uncompromisingly beautiful all the time. Businesses that adopt this attitude and incorporate specific policies to promote it, will find that less beautiful aspects naturally rise to the surface.

Help Clients Create Beauty

The beauty an organization creates is an ingredient in the beauty its clients create. For example, if a client receives a perfectly wrapped pallet of products, he will be able to resell those perfect products to his client. If an organization sends a well-dressed, articulate sales rep to an inter-company meeting at its client’s office, the rep will reflect well on the client in the meeting.

One of the most valuable benefits of having a public relations consultant is objectivity. A good PR consultant, that’s not afraid to be honest, will function as the eyes and ears of the public. The consultant will review and oversee every public-facing aspect of the client’s business and act as a critical sounding board.

An often overlooked aspect of an organization that is dedicated to beauty and excellence is the way employees treat each other. No business can be beautiful unless there is a culture of camaraderie, fairness, and respect that permeates the organization.