Peter Drucker once wrote, "The purpose of a business is to create a customer." In order to create a great brand, you need to know whom you want as customers. For some companies, McDonald's and Coca-Cola come to mind, every human being represents a potential customer. For others, the Wall Street Journal for example, the description of the ideal customer becomes much narrower. It doesn't really matter as long as you are able to describe the customers you want to work with. Make a list of the different types of customers you want. This might include your current customers and it might not. When I first started to move in the direction of creating my own consulting firm, I spoke to dozens of high school groups. I knew from the beginning that they were not going to create a sustainable, long-term source of income, but I also knew that it would provide an opportunity to hone my skills and build a name for myself.

Since a brand is based on perceived value and the only perception that matters is the customer's and the potential customer's, then the starting point is to find out what is of value to these people. Study this audience. Find out what turns them on and what turns them off. If you run a casino, an exciting experience is expected. If you want to brand a private high school, you want to make sure that students gain the ability to go on to the university of their choosing. Since any organization could easily have 10 different types of customers who want 10 different outcomes, you will quickly develop a list of 100 or more desired outcomes that customers want. Write them all down. The key is to clarify the desired output, not a specific input. For example, if you want to brand a hotel, write down desired outcomes such as low cost, a luxuriating experience, convenient access to a hot meal and quick entry to the internet. Don't write down input items such as white sheets, specific types of coffee and cheerful employees. A desired customer outcome might be a refreshing experience. An input to achieve that outcome is a cheerful employee. The easiest and most effective way to find out what customers want is to ask them. Don't survey them. Just go right up to them and ask them. Don't be annoying by trying to sell something. Just say, "I work with ABC company and would like to ask you one quick question. Is this a good time? (Pause and listen. If they say, 'yes', then continue.) If you were going to stay at a hotel in the next 60 days, what would be important to you?" Pause while they think. Listen to their answer. Write it down. Thank them and perhaps give them a certificate for a free item. Be quick and move on. All you want to know is what is important to them.

This stage requires courage, focus and commitment. After you have interviewed a significant number of customers and/or prospects, studied the trends of these people and identified what they want, the next step is to narrow your focus to the three or four outcomes that matter the most them. By doing this, you begin the process of separating yourself from the masses. You start the movement from being a commodity to an effective brand. The three to four priority customer outcomes that you select will dramatically impact every decision you make so select them carefully.

While there are multiple examples in the marketplace of how great brands rose from mundane commodities, here is one sample. Every post office has a copy machine, but Kinko's identified high priority customer outcomes and built a great company around them. Kinko's focused on speed, accessibility and convenience by being open 24 hours, providing self-serve and full-service copier options, and giving customers access to computers, fax machines, paper cutters, hole punchers and multiple colors of paper. Consequently, they emerged as an industry leader by focusing on a few high priority customer outcomes. Customers wanted to get in and get out quickly. They wanted to be able to get access whenever they had the time in their schedule. And they wanted a one-stop shop that could pull the project together.

Once you have decided on the three to four most important priority outcomes to your ideal customer, begin to work backwards. Ask yourself what you and your organization need to do to deliver these outcomes. STAY FOCUSED. If you believe that long-term reliability of your product is the number one desired customer outcome, then focus on improving the quality of the product. Gear all of your efforts toward improving the process of making your product so that it can sustain all kinds of wear and tear. Essentially, this is what Toyota and Honda did. Notice how strong their brand names are today. Equally as important, notice that Toyota and Honda did not try to make the flashiest car. They focused on reliability over the long-term. Eventually they moved into the luxury car division and now are looking to take over the family sedan market, but only after they clearly had met a specific high priority customer outcome in a sustainable way.

Any decision that you need to make should go through the following filters:

• Will this improve our ability to deliver at least one of our customer's highest priority outcomes?
• Is there a way we can implement this idea that will synergistically strengthen our brand in more than one way? (Think of The Walt Disney Company in the 1950's and how they combined The Mickey Mouse Show with the Disneyland Theme Park and the animated films so that everything cross-promoted everything else.)
• Will this initiative allow us to stay focused on what we want our brand to represent? (At one point, Ford Motor Company stepped into the Aerospace industry only to find out this diluted their brand. Of course, they have found other ways to dilute their brand in recent days.)

Don't try to be all things to all people. The more outcomes you try to deliver, the greater your chances are of weakening your brand. Have the courage NOT to do things. Stay focused on delivering these three to four priority customer outcomes. The delivery of these carefully selected items represents the golden goose for your business. Far too often, corporations get caught up in worrying about their short-term P&L and give in to the temptation of making short-term cash by selling a product, service or experience that does not connect with what they have determined to be the customer's highest priority outcomes. In the end, it hurts their business. Stay the course and be loyal to what you have decided to focus on. Wal-Mart succeeds because they stay cheap. The Ritz-Carlton succeeds because they still provide fabulous customer service. The New York Yankees succeed because they still provide the best team money can buy. Stay true to the path you have selected for yourself. Just make sure that the path is focused on what matters the most to your customers, not on what matters the most to you.

Then, within the boundary of the highest priority customer outcomes, innovate as much as possible. Constantly search for ways to deliver better results in the areas that mean the most to customers. Southwest Airlines is always looking for ways to make their no frills, cheap flights more enjoyable. Disney constantly searches for new ways to deliver quality family entertainment. Innovation is the process of identifying ways to add more value to your customers. In order to build a powerful brand, the key is to stay focused on innovating within this narrow focus of high priority outcomes.

The key to branding is reminding the customer of what you want them to remember about your brand. After Drucker said the purpose of a business is to create a customer, he then wrote, "Consequently, there are only two business functions: marketing and innovation." Marketing is letting the customer know that you can add value in specific ways to meet specific needs. Notice that The Walt Disney Company doesn't market that they are in the movie business or the theme park business. They always market that they provide value in the form of multi-dimensional family entertainment. Commercials for Walt Disney World always show family members, not rides. Southwest Airlines sells freedom and even their napkins deliver that message.

Make sure that every interaction with a customer or potential customer reiterates what your brand is about. For example, my brand, The Coughlin Company, represents "enhancing the effectiveness of top performing executives, groups and organizations." A little long perhaps, but the key phrase is "enhancing effectiveness." In other words, working with people to achieve better results in their highest priority outcomes. Consequently, I try to gear every interaction with other people toward this succinct message. This includes my website, booklets, electronic newsletter, personalized letters, letterhead, envelopes, business cards, presentations, position papers, articles, commentaries and so forth. Make sure that all of your marketing efforts reinforce one another so that the net result is a brand that resonates with customers and prospects.

Here is a visual representation of...

The Brand Building Process

Dan Coughlin is president of The Coughlin Company, Inc., a firm that specializes in enhancing the effectiveness of top performing executives, groups and organizations.