Business Visibility versus Viability
- Victoria Hogg
- Aug 21, 2025
- 3 min read
Here we are, good people |
Billboards offer promises! What happens when the company billboard promises one thing, but the back office delivers another? Customers notice, employees feel it, and trust cracks. Visibility may win attention, but it’s viability, how employees “live the brand” daily, that decides whether that shop-window attention converts into customer and employee loyalty. This week we’re exploring the gap between promise and practice, and how applied improvisation can bridge it through awareness, listening, and understanding how every role fuels the bigger picture. |
Business Visibility versus Viability
TRY IT OUT: One Size does not fit all!Take a common, low-stakes challenge (say, a client scope change). Ask each team member to improvise a succinct contribution to combatting the challenge. Do this in sequence, with each contribution building on the previous, thereby showing how the pieces interlock.
Debrief by asking: where and how did my role spark momentum for someone else? This simple drill highlights interdependence and shows how improvising together strengthens the whole.
“No business plan survives first contact with customers” Steve Blank, entrepreneur, educator, authorntreprenr, author
Something promised…
How often have you shouted into the abyss, “I just want to talk to a human!”?(And no, I don’t mean your teenage offspring.)
The gulf between the honeyed tones of High Street bank ads and the cruel labyrinth of automated phone lines is a classic case of visibility trumping viability. When you finally reach a human, they’re either shackled to a script or wedged so tightly into process that their best move is to… put you back into another queue. Yeah, thanks a bunch. At that point, you’ve had enough time to rehearse your grievance as though auditioning for Groundhog Day: Customer Service Edition.
I’ve recently been working with a client exploring promises in customer service. Refreshingly, they see improvisation as a way to make automation and human touch dance together.
Because a promise delivered is the only real trust-builder.
Something tyred…
Down at my local tyre shop, there’s a guy who’s been there 20 years. Not the owner, not the manager. Just the hub of the place. He moves with quiet efficiency, no fuss, no drama.
And customers like me trust the shop more because he’s there. He’s not tired of tyres. He’s the engaged employee who quietly lifts a brand. Compare that to a disengaged employee who, without saying a word, can deflate the brand faster than a nail on the motorway.
The true viability of a corporate brand isn’t in slogans. It’s in the lived behaviour of its people.
Ask yourself this, how many customers would recommend your business purely on the strength of your most loyal employee?
“Price is what you pay; value is what you get” Warren Buffett
Something in the shadows…
Now, picture this: Executives basking in the glow of award ceremonies and LinkedIn applause, while employees wrestle outdated systems, unclear processes, and relentless pressure.
Visibility without viability doesn’t inspire… it breeds cynicism. And cynicism, once seeded, spreads like bindweed.
Great leaders, by contrast, swivel the spotlight 180 degrees. They shine it on the daily wins of employees. They know real credibility comes not from glossy soundbites but from measuring pulse, not plaudits.
And isn’t that the better story to tell about your brand?
All the best,
Vic (and Paul)
