Do you believe you really know what your customers think of your company and its products and services? How sure are you? When was the last time you asked them? Doing so is a must in order to kick-start a branding initiative. Why? Because if you don’t understand where they are now with their thinking, you will have a difficult time taking them where you want them to go.

Truth 3 provides clear direction and actionable tools (download below) for understanding what customers think about your company; thoughts that ultimately influence a purchase decision. The process for uncovering your company's brand image for customers will work for employees as well. You must find out what customers and employees think of your company. Do they understand the benefits your company and its products and services deliver? Do they believe your company is different from the competition? They may think they know. But are they right? The only way for you to find out is to ask them!

Truth 3 covers four primary areas of your brand that influence what employees and customers think of your company. Insights are provided into what these areas are and how to gather the necessary input from employees and customers. The four areas include:

• Attributes and associations: personality characteristics and descriptions of your company.
• Competitive strengths: meaningful benefits, points of difference, and points of parity.
• Concerns and weaknesses: challenges that decrease employee and customer loyalty.
• Work culture: experiences that have an impact on employee and customer loyalty.

You must search for and document your current brand image if you are going to optimally define what it should be in the future. Keep this in mind: if you don’t define it now, your customers will do it for you. You may not like what they come up with.