Delta Airlines just announced that it has eliminated pillows and quit selling food on flights to save money. Clearly they haven't read the growing list of dissatisfied customer postings on flyertalk.com, airlinerage.com, or flightsfromhell.com.

Companies traditionally have looked at customer service issues as separate, and apart, from the sales of the product and based on short-term profitability. Decisions that at first glance don't seem to affect the bottom line immediately are put off if the corporation isn't flush with cash.

In today's texting, YouTube, blogging, mobile messaging, media-obsessed world, consumers can get to the core of every business instantly. And they do. To them, saying what you do is not nearly as important as doing what you say.

You sell more than a service or a product - you are selling a culture, a set of beliefs and your brand's mission. Consistency and transparency throughout every layer of your company influence buying decisions and are directly tied to your bottom line. So, your brand must be clearly understood and embraced by your entire organization.

To create a well-developed brand that's focused on profitability follow these steps: