Photo: An Independent Bank in a Small Community Mission in Practice: a bank that "feels like home" to farming and ranching customers.

Having determined a company's uniqueness, those qualities can be defined and then portrayed to further develop specific markets segments.

Consider: Are we portraying an image that appeals to our targeted customers? Have we asked those customers what they want? Do we understand what appeals to them (and why)?

 ~ consistently reminds customers and employees of the firm's commitment to the mission. Once a mission is clearly established and the difference is defined, another crucial step is to create an environment where reminders exist throughout.

The congruent experience should carry from initial point of entry until exit -for customers and staff.

Frequent reference points, that consistently define and explore the mission, are reinforcing to the users of a space.

Consider: Do customers and employees enter our business fully aware of our commitment to our valuable mission and corporate philosophy?

Since the success of a working environment ultimately depends upon how it is perceived by its users, it then makes sense to involve these users in the programming process. Consider the value in listening to input from both customers and staff, and look for ways to satisfy their concerns within the design of the physical environment.

The planning stage demands a strategy-one that is often overlooked-that includes asking the right questions of the right parties. Best outcomes can fail early if appropriate parties are not included in the initial fact-finding and Q&A. Typically, upper management are the primary group included in questions relative to adjacencies, work flow, hierarchy and satisfying customer needs. The problem inherent to questioning only these parties is they are frequently far removed from the actual working process. As such, their input relates little to true process and more to what they believe or perceive to occur during various transactions and at critical points of staff/customer contact.