Get Your Business in Shape with a Brand Audit

Get Your Business in Shape with a Brand Audit

I recently went for my first physical in quite some time. Happy to say, I got a good report. A few years back, things weren’t so rosy. I was putting on the extra pounds and I knew I had some work to do. It wasn’t intentional, but I guess I just let things get away from me a bit. I signed up with a trainer, who told me it was a common problem, that these things tend to creep up over time. We get busy, we neglect to cut out the time to plan, and we fail to execute. 

We hear that same story from clients all the time. They’re talking about their brands, not their bodies, but the symptoms are the same. Where my trainer saw a lack of focus and the need for a more comprehensive exercise routine, the business owner feels a growing disconnect between his or her company and the perceptions, expectations, and desires of customers and/or employees. The results are also very similar. 

Any conversation with a trainer quickly comes around to the word “core.” Keeping the body’s central nucleus toned strengthens the muscles that support the spine, providing the foundation for overall health and wellness. In business, it’s all about your company’s “core values.” Again, same symptoms, same results. Letting processes, policies or behaviors deviate from the central tenets that support your brand leads to an unhealthy culture that will, eventually, negatively affect your bottom line. 

A brand audit is the business equivalent of that session with a physical trainer. It brings an objective, professional assessment to bear, providing the kind of unbiased, critical look in the mirror that can expose imbalances that may be too close for you to see in the short term, but can sabotage your business’ health over the long haul. 

One of the great benefits of any good training session – or brand audit – is the way it makes you feel. You might dread the idea of actually getting into it, but once you’re there, it’s fun. And the best part? After it’s over, you feel refreshed and refocused, ready to go back to work and do some heavy lifting.