What Does Aligning Your Values Look Like
It’s easy to say: I value transparency.
It’s harder to say: I messed up with this deadline, I have too much going on and need to push our timeline back.
So, how do you implement your values into your business strategy*?
Pinpointing what your values are is important.
Image of affirmations Modestine® shared with their customers by email, aligning their self-care value with their content marketing.
For the purpose of this blog post, we highly recommend choosing 5 values that are foundational to your business experience. It’s true that you can have 20+ values as a person and business. But, what are the top 5 values that are clearly experienced, practiced, and instilled in your brand?
A good example of values being clear is when a business is behind on orders and they send out an email, make several social media posts, and maybe even send a text to customers letting them know the problem at hand and how they’re working to catch up. This shows the company values their customers time and their overall transparency with their customers.
Need some help finding your values? Ask yourself these questions:
When I am struggling with something in my business what do I do? (Think: self-care, share the news, take a step back, etc.)
When I have reached a milestone in my business, how do I celebrate? (Think: share the news, create a new goal immediately, reflect on your journey alone or with close friends, make a big deal out of it with customers and friends alike, etc.)
How do you show up for your business? (Think: I prioritize balance, I jump in head first to each launch, I spread myself thin, I put the biz first, I put the customer first, I put myself first, etc.)
As you can tell in these questions, aspects of your values as a person AND as a business will show up and you can work on refining them as you build your brand.
Word bank of values: adventure, advocacy, acceptance, ambition, balance, beauty, commitment, community, compassion, creativity, dependability, efficiency, grace, gratitude, hard work, honesty, humor, integrity, intentionality, kindness, loyalty, passion, power, reliability, security, trust, transparency, and wisdom.
How Do You Align Your Values With Your Operations?
Once you know what your core values are, then you need to evaluate if you are truly leaning into them and adjust your operations to fit their impact.
This could look like valuing integrity but realizing that part of your shopping experience feels “sketchy” or too “commerce focused, not people centered.”
At that point you need to schedule a meeting with your web designer and work with them to see how you can refresh the shopping experience to feel like your customer is literally talking with you in the store and letting you guide them to the counter to check out. This is how you show up for your values, and trust me, your customers will notice!
Need help? Feel free to reach out to us by sending us a DM on Instagram or sending us an email at hello@raineandrose.co
