Identity sounds like logo and mission statement.
Like a workshop everyone leaves happy.
It shows in the discount.
Sales gives it when they can’t justify the price.
It shows in the offer that stays although nobody can explain it.
And in the campaign that promises something different from the last one.
Capable people work in businesses like these.
Everyone decides for good reasons.
Together it doesn’t fit.
It’s rarely a matter of skill.
There is no basis from which everyone derives the same thing.
Identity is that basis.
What the business is chosen for.
What it no longer offers.
Whom it doesn’t want to serve.
It shows when holding on to it gets expensive.
With the enquiry that would pay well and doesn’t fit.
With the customer who only talks about price.
Once it is settled, the price is no longer up for negotiation.
Neither with customers nor in-house.
Without identity, anything is possible.
So everything gets negotiated.