Here is a quick quiz to test the strength of your brand. On a 1-10 scale how radically different is your brand from what your competitors offer? Now, rate how relevant that difference is to your target market on a 1-10 scale. Next, multiply your differentiation score times your relevance score to get your overall Overpromise Score. If you want a true test of your brand, ask potential customers and current customers to take the same quiz.

Companies like Apple, Google, Lululemon, Facebook and ZipCar get perfect scores of 100. My audiences often score them even higher! There are many companies with middling scores of 25-49 that wonder why they can’t seem to grow as fast as they wish. Those with lower scores are likely struggling. So what was your score and what can you do to raise it?

1. Do a deep dive to really understand exactly who your customers really are and what is most relevant to them. Learn what is missing in their lives and find a connection to your products, services, brands or offers.
2. Develop a new product, new offer or a new way to communicate what you already have. USAA Insurance recently launched a new suite of services under the Home Circle brand. By going to their new Home Circle website www.homecircle.com USAA’s military customers can tap a whole suite of products and services to help them buy, sell, rent, insure or finance their home. The new sub-brand and the site have been wildly successful. The irony is that all of these services already existed and were being offered by USAA, but their insurance customers were unaware of their comprehensive offering because each product or service was being offered separately. By bundling them under a new sub-brand, USAA was able to radically differentiate their company and become significantly more relevant to their core customer base.
3. Communicate your innovation in an unusual way. Don’t spam your customers or fill their mailbox with trash. Find an unusual or creative way to break through, with social media, an event or engaging PR. Being radically different and highly relevant should never be boring!

Great companies never stop innovating. They are always looking for ways to push the differentiation envelope and become more relevant in their customers’ lives. The best companies make it a way of life!

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Rick Barrera is a branding expert and customer service speaker, as well as the author of the bestselling book: Overpromise and Overdeliver: The Secrets of Unshakable Customer Loyalty.