With hesitation you pick up the pen and sign the contract. Congratulations, you just bought a new car. From here, you have two options: you can maximize your investment and enjoy it for years to come, or you can drive it into the ground.

Driving it into the ground is the easy route. Just start it up, enjoy every mile, and have a tow truck and mechanic on speed dial. Ignore the warning lights, clanks and clunks, and eventually your new vehicle either dies or needs a drastic overhaul at which time the mechanic hands you an enormous bill, unable to promise your vehicle will perform as well as it used to.

Enjoying it for the long run makes a lot more sense, but it also takes a lot more work. Oil changes. Tire rotations. New belts and hoses. It boils down to routine maintenance, making continual adjustments to ensure your vehicle continues to operate at peak condition.

Now apply that same thinking to your company's brand.

The marketplace evolves every day. How can you make sure your company keeps pace and performs at peak condition? What adjustments do you need to make and what adjustments will leave you better off? There's always something.

Start by focusing on what's easiest to monitor and adjust — your message. Does it align with your organization's current identity and personality? Does it tell a compelling story about your organization's products or services? Most importantly, is it helping your company operate at maximum performance?

Monitoring the success of your company's message isn't easy. You can't always tell what's going on under the hood. Sometimes there are indicators, a loss in market share, declining sales figures, decreased enrollment — it depends on your organization.

That's when routine maintenance really pays off, always looking to make improvements, regardless of whether the warning signs are visible or not. Continually monitoring and fine-tuning your company's message allows you to stay ahead of potential problems, attract new customers, and strengthen relationships with those already on board. More so, it helps make change more manageable, both physically and financially. By continually looking to make improvements, you can make calculated investments in your long-term success.

Your company is a million moving parts. And your company's brand is the promise it makes to its customers through every interaction. The only way to keep your promise is by aligning each aspect of your organization, behind a shared vision and promise, and continually monitoring your message to ensure everyone understands your offering, your process, and your culture so your organization can perform at its full potential for years to come.