THIS! Right here.
Brand Voice, Customer Service, and the Power of Relationships
When it comes to building a strong brand identity, many small businesses focus on visuals—logos, packaging, and website design. But the most successful brands know that long-term sales growth isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about relationships. And relationships start with exceptional customer service.
Industry leaders like Chick-fil-A, Nordstrom, and Publix have perfected this concept. They’ve built their reputations on consistency, attentiveness, and customer-first policies that make people feel valued. Their secret? It’s not just great products or catchy marketing—it’s the emotional connection they cultivate through service. And that’s what keeps customers coming back.
Small Businesses Don’t Need to Reinvent the Wheel
A common mistake I see small businesses make is believing they have to create a completely original approach to customer service and brand identity. The truth is, you don’t have to start from scratch. The principles of great customer service are already out there—tested, refined, and proven by brands that have set the gold standard. Your job is to take those strategies and make them your own.
The way a company interacts with its customers—its brand voice—is a direct reflection of its values, mission, and identity. Whether you’re a boutique retailer, a service provider, or a specialty manufacturer, you can take inspiration from the best and infuse those principles with your unique brand personality.
A Real-World Example: Transforming a Small Business Through Brand Voice
For seven years, I’ve worked with a small but fast-growing Italian mineral paints company based in Atlanta. By crafting a brand voice that prioritized customer service and engagement, I grew their Instagram following to nearly 24,000 followers in just over a year—without spending a dollar on follower acquisition. As of today, with a few more creative consumer engagement methods, I helped the brand build a competitive audience of over 115,000 Instagram followers and just under half a million views per month on Pinterest. For a small brand competing with billion-dollar companies for consumer attention, this kind of sustained growth is significant, especially in the ever-changing ebb and flow of the elusive social media and search engine algorithms.
How? I implemented a proven customer service framework—one inspired by Chick-fil-A’s approach to hospitality. Something as simple as responding to customers with “my pleasure” in direct messages (DMs) when they expressed gratitude for product advice set the tone for a welcoming, helpful brand identity. This small but impactful detail reflected the company’s values at the time, and helped create a consistent, relationship-driven experience for every customer interaction. By the time I completed my journey with them, they had accumulated
Customer Service is the Foundation of Brand Growth
In today’s digital landscape, consumers have endless options. What makes them choose one brand over another isn’t just product quality—it’s the experience. A brand that fosters trust, engagement, and responsiveness will always stand out.
So if you’re a small business wondering how to grow your brand identity and customer base, start with relationships. Learn from brands that have already mastered this, adapt their principles to fit your mission, and create an experience that makes people want to come back.
Because at the end of the day, the brands that prioritize relationships are the ones that win.
When I saw this post on LinkedIn, I had to screenshot it and blog about it because my emotional response was so intense. Set your ego aside. We’re not all born to create excellence from scratch. But we are all capable of taking inspiration from an excellent example and turning it into our own personal or business-winning strategy.