Branding as a strategy means little if the customer experience is not there. If your story doesn’t align with what you do, all of the clever tactics you can come up with to follow your lofty goal will not make the cut.

Unless you can fix your story by inspiring a culture of service from the inside. You instill a belief as well as make an example of behaviors to follow throughout the organization. You know that this cannot just be a grassroots effort, it needs to come all the way from the top.

Which companies are doing that today? Here’s five that fix their story to inspire service:

1. Southwest Airlines - anyone who’s ever had the opportunity to be serviced by this airlines knows why we’re Nuts about Southwest. Personality would not be as effective without the service and that is pretty well organized.

2. Patagonia - striking conversations about your passion with employee, friends, and customers can also provide you with many more ideas on how to live a more adventurous life. Check out how their customers participate actively (pun intended).

3. Netflix - there’s something special in a good story, and even more so when there are unlimited stories to choose from. I like that they introduce themselves briefly in each post and that the conversations flow in the comments.

4. Zappos.com - this is the story of a customer service company that happens to sell (mainly) shoes. You can find their core values displayed on every page of the site and as reminders while you search - their first mantra is to deliver wow through service.

5. Whole Foods - they understand the power of a passionate team who know about the products they carry and care about making customers happy.

These companies are doing it without drama. Can you do the same?

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Read more of Valeria Maltoni’s Customer Conversation

Valeria Maltoni is a professional marketer with 20 years of real-world corporate experience across a broad array of mid-to-large sized companies, 10 of which online.  Hands-on work at a Fortune 500 technology company, a technology start-up, in health care, chemical manufacturing, risk management consulting, and the non-profit sector have provided her with a wealth of experience and insights.

Now Valeria applies that knowledge to helping businesses understand how customers and communities have changed marketing, public relations, and communications - and how to build value in this new environment. She specializes in marketing communications, customer dialogue, and brand management. Conversation Agent is recognized among the world's top online marketing blogs.

http://Twitter.com/ConversationAge