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Your Reputation is Your Brand
Too many companies think that their logo is their brand. However, a logo is just like a person’s name; what you know about that person (when you hear their name) is their reputation. A company’s logo is just a visual identifier that represents that company’s reputation. And a company’s reputation is its brand.
To be successful over a long period in business requires a strong brand. But if your brand is going to be defined by your reputation, then you need to define core values to provide a framework for employees to work within to incrementally build the net positive company reputation you desire. These core values need to apply across all facets of your organization so that, while there are multiple “departments” even within small organizations, everyone in the entire organization can perform their duties in a way that will contribute to building a brand that conveys the reputation you want to be known for.
The leadership team at Standard decided that a “strong brand” for Standard would be a brand that conveyed a reputation for excellence in all that we do. This brand was informed by the general belief we have all maintained over our 80 years in business—Standard may not be the cheapest option, but Standard is the company you should choose if you want to be certain that the work you need done will be done right and, if you do happen to have a problem in the future, you can be certain that Standard will always stand behind our work—Standard stands for excellence in ALL that we do.
To achieve the goal of maintaining a reputation for delivering excellence in all that we do, we drew inspiration from a quote attributed to the great coach and leader Vince Lombardi and defined one of Standard’s core values as “Strive for Perfection.” This value made sense because we recognized that striving for perfection is easy to understand (by anyone and everyone) and is quite simply one of the most important ways Standard has built, and can maintain, a brand that stands for excellence.
Whether team members are working in the office or out in the field, whether they are employees or contractors performing work under Standard’s supervision, their work product all contributes to Standard’s brand. If we want Standard’s brand to be known for excellence, then no matter what task is being performed, if we are each constantly reminded to Strive for Perfection in everything we do, we will maintain a brand that stands for excellence.