But having a defined company culture does a lot more than treat your employees to nice perks. A company culture tells your customers, employees, future employees and the public who you are and what you stand for. It’s as much a part of your brand as your website, the interior design of your space and your advertising campaigns.

Before you can build and maintain a culture, you must first define that culture. Engaging in the branding process can help name a lot of the feelings a business owner has about his or her business and steer how they want to their company culture to be understood both internally and externally.

Think about it, if you do not know how your business should sound, how can you direct an employee to run your social media pages? If you don’t know what your business stands for, how can you accurately hire employees that mirror your values and work ethic? If you do not know how you want your customers to feel, how can employees accurately manage customer service requests?

It is all about defining the expectation, and it all goes back to branding. Branding defines what differentiates you from your competition. Designing and cultivating your culture is a great way to build your team around your brand’s values.

Define who you are and what you stand for

Every time you visit a business – the dentist, a bank, a mechanic – you have a feeling about that business. That feeling you have when you walk through the door is a major part of that business’s brand.

This is something that happens whether or not you approach it with intent as a business owner. As the owner, it is up to you to define your company’s values, its mission, its goals and its voice and tone. By consciously working through the branding process, you can define your company’s values and build a culture that supports those values.

This information is crucial for steering your brand and should happen before you hire your first employee. By understanding your company’s brand, you can set expectations early on about how you want employees to represent your company. This will assist you in the hiring process to attract employees that share your company’s values.

After an employee is hired, the internal communication portion continues. Employees should have a clear understanding of who the company is and what it stands for. This will guide them to accurately represent the company and understand their expectations as an employee.

For customer-facing businesses, employees can be a powerful megaphone. If they have a clear understanding of a company’s brand and embrace it, they can positively impact your business.

REI is a great example of a company whose employees accurately represent the company’s brand. REI employees are known as outdoor enthusiasts who share a passion for nature and adventure. When you walk into REI you know you will be able to get honest and informed feedback from employees who have used the gear you’re considering purchasing.

Define your ideal customer

During our branding process, we ask business owners to tell us about their customers. A lot of business owners say they consider “everyone” to be their customer. Any marketer will tell you that is not true. You can have multiple target demographics, but you can’t please everyone. So, first, define your target demographics then define how you want each to feel.

So, who is your ideal customer? Think of them. Write down words that define them. Pinpoint your core customer base. Once you do this, you can then begin to build relationships with those people.

Consider REI again. Do you have a clear picture in your mind of an REI customer? It’s probably someone active, outdoorsy.

REI goes a step further. It builds a community around the outdoor lifestyle, a community that is made up of employees and customers that share the same values. This level of company culture is not possible without the company clearly establishing who it is and communicating that to its employees and the public.

You want your company culture to mirror your customer culture. Through your messaging, you should be targeting customers who share your values and buy into your company culture.

Communicate and maintain your culture

Once you know who you are, who your employees are and who your customers are, then you can determine ways in which you can communicate your culture and maintain it.

Internally, it can be practiced during the onboarding phase for new employees. Culture can be maintained through activities, messaging and other means. This will solidify and further build upon your culture and your brand.

Externally, it can be how employees communicate with customers and the public. It can be in ways they interact in the community outside of work.

As a business owner or leader, it’s your job to define and communicate your company’s culture then use it as a guide. Putting energy into defining and developing culture has been proven to make better work environments and improve team performance.

During our branding process, we help businesses explore their culture and name their values. This helps them to define their brand and gives them a guide to steer their business after the branding process is complete.