The mission must have a higher-order purpose, and it must help employees understand why they come to work each day. The higher order mission puts you into partnership with the home buyer. Now let’s introduce another dimension into the mission statement, that of product identification and specificity. Does your mission statement give the customer a clue to your business? If your company name of ABC Homebuilders were separated from the mission statement would it be self-explanatory? Does your mission statement box you into a specific product, or does it leave room for interpretation? Either way is okay, the decision is yours.
On one hand you can be very specific: “We build single-family, stand-alone, starter homes.” This makes it easier for you to communicate your product description to your sales forces. It means first-time starter home buyers can find you more easily in the yellow pages. But there is a downside. As your business grows, your mission may also need to grow. At some point you may need to move up to the midrange or custom-home market. This movement requires a mission change that must occur when evidence suggests your old mission statement is no longer your prime function. Your mission may leave room for interpretation. This gives you the space to grow without changing your mission.
The danger is that the more general the mission statement the more chance for confusion. Consider the mission statement: We help first-time buyers become home owners. There is room for both employees and customers to misinterpret this statement. For example, a new employee may think you are a mortgage or loan company within a niche market. So how do we get out of the box? Let’s balance the critical items, and then you can make your customers understand about your mission statement.