No Vision, Mission or Values, No Business Direction

Why do you need Vision, Mission and Values statements?

Being a Watertight Marketing licensee, I’m always encouraging the mapping of marketing activity to the six steps of marking (the customer journey). It’s essential to be clear where any marketing activity sits in that journey, and how it can influence the buying decision (the ‘why’ you’re doing it):

1. AWARENESS – Be there
2. INTEREST – Be relevant
3. EVALUATION – Be proven
4. TRIAL – Be helpful
5. ADOPTION – Be friendly
6. LOYALTY – Be consistent

Rather than being specifically marketing related your Mission, Vision and Values are actually far more fundamental to your business. While offering ‘focus’, these kind of statements will help guide and unite your business, but will also support a couple of key leaks:

• WHAT (Leak #12) and 
• NO EMOTIONAL CONNECTION (Leak #3)

WHAT sits up in AWARENESS, and EMOTIONAL CONNECTION down in Adoption.

Having these statements in place will also help you focus on you proposition and key audience, and in turn attract buyers (and employees and suppliers). By keeping true to them will also help you in making key or big  business decisions.

What’s the difference?

Here’s a brief description of each of the statements:

• A Vision Statement should challenge and inspire your employees and let others know where you want to be in the future.
• A Mission Statement should support your vision and serves to communicate purpose and direction to employees, customers, and third parties (goals).
• A Values Statement should describe what you believe in, and how you will behave.

Note: I would always recommend investing more time and effort than you think you need to get these right. If budgets allow, absolutely engage a professional copywriter who specialises in brand development wherever possible.

A closer look

Vision Statement

A vision statement creates a picture, of what a company wants to achieve over time. It provides guidance and inspiration as to what to focus on in 5, 10, or more years:

• It projects 5 to 10 years in the future.
• It dreams big and focus on success.
• It uses the present tense.
• It uses clear, concise language.
• It is an infusion a vision statement, passion and emotion.
• It paints a graphic mental picture of the business that company wants to be.

Mission Statement

A mission statement defines a company’s purpose in 30 seconds or less. It covers company’s goals for customers, employees, and owners, and is a formal summary of aims and values – a statement to which all employees can subscribe:

• It examines the lives of others.
• It determines ideal selves.
• It considers legacies.
• It determines a purpose.
• It clarifies aptitudes.
• It defines specific goals (For Customers, Employees and Owners).

Core Values Statement

Core values are what support the vision and shape the culture of a company. They reflect what the company values in people and business, and are the essence of the company’s identity – the principles, beliefs, or philosophy of their values. Core values also help companies in the decision-making processes.

Other things to think about:

• Value Proposition: Consider how your mission, vision and values tie-in or affect your proposition. Is there synergy and would your buyer relate to them?
• Customer Profiling: Consider how your customers think and behave, and whether your mission, vision and values will strengthen your relationship with them, or affect their decision to buy from you.

What kind of things have you come up with for your business’s Vision, Mission and Values?

If you would like work with me on shaping your Vision, Mission and Values, I’d be delighted to help. Please get in touch »