Every day you can hear these commonly heard complaints from employees and customers alike. The chances are your own company is not exempt from such remarks. Such frustration and disappointment, inwardly felt even if not always voiced, if ignored, soon translates into lost customers and inevitable failure.

Companies that take an interest in their customers, that know how their customers think and feel, look from the outside in. They judge the feelings of people, care about them, hold to good values and build long-term relationships and friendships. They treat people as people want to be treated. Unfortunately, these companies are rare. Most companies are self-oriented. But even those who deny any such selfishness, who boast worthy mission statements and customer service training, have to admit that the perceptions of their customers often tell a different story. In any event it is what your customers think – rather than a mission statement framed in the corridor – that will determine your company’s success.

This book is written somewhat out of frustration. Many years of experience with companies covering all industries in many countries of the world have witnessed too much lip service to visions, values, customer promises and employee dreams. Many companies have forfeited the profits that their excellent products and services could have commanded if they had only put the customer first. Some have paid the ultimate price and more responsive, attractive, caring competitors have taken their place. Our frustration comes from the fact that this need not be so. The solution, as evidenced in the companies that are doing it right, although neither easy nor quick, involves, as usual, just common sense and a bit of know-how. This is what this book provides.

Whatever our frustration, this book is not a damning indictment of the guilty companies which turn out to be far from excellent. On the contrary, it is written with hope and faith in the common sense of those who will lead companies well into the next millennium. It is a practical guide to help you and your company colleagues to:

create value-driven visions and missions
develop a lasting corporate identity
establish a road map for future strategic direction
create a sustainable competitive advantage
create and manage a powerful brand
reverse declining customer loyalty
boost employee morale and commitment
attract new customers
dramatically improve internal and external customer service
provide focus and direction for advertising and public relations
escape the product life cycle trap
achieve corporate immortality

That’s a lot of benefits from a single book. The common sense secret is not in being super-excellent in every facet of your business, but in getting the central ingredient right – the part of your business that most affects all the above customer-related achievements. But before even introducing this central ingredient we have to say that there’s no “quick fix” formula. Nor will any lasting solution mean anything other than a lot of hard work over a long period of time and substantial investment. But such aims are not optional extras. Your success and, in some cases, very survival, may well depend on all or some of them. The good news is that there is a practical, proven way to corporate success and world class status. The central ingredient is personality; corporate personality – corporate charisma.

Charisma and corporate personality
Your personality embraces everything about you – what you are and want to be, your values, dreams and unique characteristics. It is what makes you you. We often refer to a person as having charisma when there is something special and attractive about them. Their personality seems to go beyond any of the more visible talents and resources they might possess. Whatever their other characteristics, charismatic people attract others to them. A company’s personality is what makes it different to its competitors. And, just as with individuals, there are companies that have that special charisma, and others, even large conglomerates, seem nondescript by comparison. A distinctive corporate personality is what enables the customer to single you out, what makes them remember you, and what creates loyalty. It is what gives a company, organisation or institution life – human qualities in the minds of its customers that they can relate to. It is what can make an otherwise soulless legal entity seem dependable, caring, lovable, professional or cute and cuddly. A company, depending on your own personality, you like to do business with.

A company’s personality often reflects how its customers see themselves, or how they would like to be seen. On the other hand, if a company is perceived as aggressive, sinister, two-faced or untrustworthy (never mind their product quality), people will not deal with it, just as they will not associate personally with those who do not reflect their own values and characteristics. We tend to like people who are like us. And that “likeness” is perceived in terms of human characteristics that go to form personality.

Of course it isn’t vital to be charismatic to succeed. We all know people who we would not describe as having charisma yet we admire and respect them for who they are and their own, unique personality. And the same applies to companies. Some world class businesses that attract millions of loyal customers may be dependable, sensitive, caring, mature, trendy or classy – in fact they have a distinctive personality that appeals to a certain market segment. And that genuine, consistent personality is the key to their long term success. In this book we describe a strategic process for creating or changing your corporate personality, whether you want to be charismatic or conservative. The term corporate personality embraces the ideal of charisma that many companies aspire to, but does not exclude other characteristics that might appeal to your customers.

Charisma, or any personality trait, is in the eye of the beholder, of course, and a successful personality strategy will depend on perception and positioning in the minds of your customers. But this book is not just about image. In the long run people will be attracted to you for who you really are – your true identity, not an image or facade. So the strategic process we describe allows you to identify your true personality, and if need be to change it to align with your mission, vision, values, culture, branding and positioning strategy, and of course your customers. In this way, you can project a unique personality that will attract and keep customers and be your foundation for world class recognition.

Who should read this book?
This book is addressed to CEOs, marketing executives, brand managers, consultants, agency staff and anyone who is responsible for corporate growth. It is for people concerned with change in organisations. Personality and charisma are as much to do with who or what you want to be, as what you are now – it is about what you see yourself becoming, what you aspire to be. Our personal vision of the future usually dictates how we act today. Similarly, values, although they may be ideals a little loftier than our actual behaviour, nevertheless influence everything we say and do. In the same way many organisations are not satisfied with where they are now, especially in terms of their current customers, potential customers and their image in the market-place. You personally may be concerned with changing things in terms of the quality of your product, your internal culture and values, your service to the public, or how they see you.

We shall see how a company’s vision, mission, values, culture and day-to-day operations all go to form its unique personality, and how every member of the staff is part of this personality package. So whether you are managing major corporate change or are involved at a job-specific level, you can be part of creating and maintaining a successful corporate personality. What you read will also have an impact on every function at every level:

human resources management
production and quality control
customer service
marketing corporate strategy and leadership

There is nothing more central than corporate charisma and there is nothing that affects every member of the staff in quite the same way.

At the same time there are many outside agencies and consultants who are involved in organisational change and marketing. Just as change will affect your culture, management and operations, so will your personality permeate your PR and advertising. So a whole range of outside specialists, including those concerned with promoting brands and image, as well as those supporting internal changes, can benefit from this book.