We have all heard the mantra “you are only as strong as your weakest link.” This is true across many avenues in life including your brand. Today’s market is highly competitive and now more than ever customers have options to take their business elsewhere. So if your strength really is in your weakest link how do you find the weak link? In a few basic exercises you can narrow the search for the weak links in your brand. Check them out after the jump.
The first exercise to find your weak points is probably the most obvious. Look at your most upset customers and listen to what they have to say. Really attempt to put yourself in their shoes and see your brand the way they do. Throw away your bias and excuses and examine all of the communications and interactions your brand has with upset customers. How is customer satisfaction handled? If you were on the other end would you be okay with the way your brand treated you? Find the ways your brand could have gone above expectations to assist customers and reenforce the weak spots with genuine effort.
The next exercise is to play a game called “try to destroy your brand as if you were a rival competitor.” This game can actually be fun. You must take a tactical look at your brand, which includes running every attack scenario you can fathom. This reminds me of debate team in college. In order to debate properly you must form arguments for both sides of the debate. This prepares you to defend against attacks from the opposing team by anticipating their moves. The same is true in business. You must be prepared to defend against attack at any moment and the best way to do that is to attack your own brand first.
Finally, we are going to pretend to have a magic genie in a bottle that will grant you three wishes to change the way your business handles customers. Don’t try and rationalize your three wishes with what you think can actually be done in the real world. Instead let your imagination run wild and be as detailed as possible with the implementation and execution of these wishes. Maybe you would wish for a more robust pipeline teeming with fresh leads that you can convert into customers? What does that pipeline of leads look like? Who is in the pipeline? What would you do if you had the opportunity? By wishing for changes in your business you can find ways to turn that wish into reality but only if you dig deep and envision the wish as a real possibility. This gives a fresh vision for the future and irons out small weaknesses in creative thinking.
Put these exercises to the test and find your weakest link. Good luck and please let me know how your progressing.
