December. It's a busy time of year, full of annual traditions — and we're not talking about gift wrap, mantle hangings, and songs of cheer. We're talking about making budgets, setting goals, and seeing where your greatest opportunities lie in the year ahead. The challenge, however, isn't always figuring out what you want to accomplish, it's figuring out how to accomplish it.

For many of our clients and contacts, the answer is to start with internal operations. Namely, making employees the number one advocates of your brand, your main supporters.

Often overlooked, employees are the lifeblood of a company's brand. They represent who you are, what you do, and your level of service — which is so valuable in a world where competition continually breeds commoditization. Your people can differentiate you, good or bad. The problem is, it is next to impossible to quantify whether improved employee communication, understanding of your mission, and a boost in morale provide immediate impact on your bottom line. Therefore, efforts to build the brand internally are often pushed off, and a great opportunity is often missed.

In a recent meeting with a technology company, we were discussing the intricacies of aligning a company's message with each audience it serves. When we got to the internal audience, the COO of the company smacked the table.

"That's what we're missing," he said. "I bet if you asked 30 people right now what we do, you'd get 30 different answers."

Imagine a whole sales team that either doesn't know a company's full capabilities, or doesn't care enough to represent all the company can do to one prospect? Sound familiar? It happens more than you think. Worse, the problems this can create run deep, effecting your brand's influence on the outside.

When employees don't fully understand a company's capabilities or live up to a organization's mission, they can hold that company back from its full potential. It's easiest to understand in a retail environment. Take Neiman Marcus for example. Imagine seeing a beautiful piece of jewelry in an ad in Sunday's paper. You or your spouse would love that piece for a gift. The ad is clean in design. It represents the highest quality you can expect at Neiman Marcus. But when you get to the store, the person who serves you is unkempt, disinterested, and hardly knowledgeable. This person doesn't understand what makes Neiman Marcus different, they don't know or don't care what is expected of them.

The moral of the story? Your people need to represent your organization as best they can — not only through their appearance, but through their actions and attitudes, too.

The solution is to treat your internal audience with the same importance as your external audience in terms of what they mean to your bottom line. If employees know what your company does inside and out, know what is expected of them, and represent the level of professionalism you desire, they can be your best sales people, recruiters, and leaders regardless of their titles. They can also be your key to success in 2006 and beyond.