5 ways to strengthen your company’s reputation

| August 22, 2019

In terms of customer attraction and business growth, there isn’t anything more crucial than the reputation of a company. Sometimes, it is the most powerful leverage a business has. In this instant-communication social media age, it looks like one mistake can tarnish a business repute even without the enterprise noticing that anything had happened.

But when it comes to the opinions of others, the best defense is a good offense. A company’s reputation is, after all, a mix of what the business does, what its employees do and what people say about it. A company must ensure that everyone, from employees to executives, is saying the right things at the right time.

In this post, we’ll discuss five efficient ways to strengthen your company’s reputation.

Ask for customer reviews

Above 85% of customers read reviews. Further, 57% of those surveyed said that they would only use a business if it has four or more stars. Consequently, businesses that lack reviews with adequate ratings will miss out on this consumer base.

Boosting reputation isn’t difficult – it starts with asking customers to leave reviews. Having client reviews not only provides legitimacy and credibility for a company, but it can also brand it as a reputable institution.

The existing client base is vital for building up the company reputation. If they’re happy, they will communicate a very positive picture of a business. Capitalizing on customer loyalty is achieved through reviews. To encourage participation, consider offering an incentive, such as a product discount.

Strengthen your executives

The executive branch of a company has always been an integral part of its reputation. CEO’s talk about new products, explain their benefits and features, communicate with top clients and often are the major players in any PR campaign. In addition, their own reputation is intertwined with the company’s own.

This is why countries like Australia are leading the way in coaching their executives and employees about reputation management and other aspects of their jobs. For instance, there is executive coaching in Brisbane that teaches managers how to progress in the right direction.

Research provides even more examples of the effectiveness of leadership coaching, especially in the healthcare sector. Findings suggest that management coaching was associated with dramatic improvements in goal attainment, leadership self-efficacy, perspective-taking capacity, solution-focused thinking and many other aspects crucial for maintaining a sterling company reputation.

But go even further

A common misunderstanding that executives have is they imagine a reputation as an equivalent or a follow-up to having satisfied clients. It is visible that these days, reputation goes far beyond customer experience, and it is more and more driven by third parties, whether that’s the social media, media or other customers. This applies not only to business-to-consumer companies but also for business-to-business companies.

It is advisable for a business to have a formalized reputation management in the form of a governance structure, preferably as a corporate reputation council over a corporate reputation officer and by investing in reputational intelligence systems.

This is because successful reputational strategies have to be designed before a crisis happens. Simply surveying investors, partners and customers won’t cut it. Once they start to worry, it is too late – the cards are already stacked against the company.

Apologise for your mistakes

Not a single person on this planet is error-free. The same holds true for any business. At some point, your company will make a mistake. Your executives said something insensitive or reacted poorly to a negative review, or there was some issue down the supply chain that caused products to be delivered late.

What sets a good enterprise apart from the bad ones is how these problems are handled when they happen. An apology will be needed. One that isn’t rushed, hurried or awkwardly handled, but is rather productive, helpful and starts the process of healing relationships.

Maintain consistency

Every business makes some kind of promise to its customers, even if it isn’t put in a written contract. That promise is built on brand consistency. What can customers expect from your company, regardless of what day, season, or year it is? Inconsistency leads to unfulfilled business promises. And a broken promise, in turn, leads to a tarnished reputation.

What it boils down to is that building your repute revolves around delivering your business promises time and time again. To accomplish that, a company must aim for consistency. You can’t give customers the best user experience one day and short-change them the next. To maintain a consistent repute, it is advisable to hire top talent and train executives and employees on business operations.

Maintaining a sterling reputation isn’t easy. It was never supposed to be. Still, it is achievable with a bit of practice and effort. A company that commits to its goals, lives its mission and keeps its promises will have a sterling reputation. Take control of your reputation by managing the factors that would produce a bad one – the rest will take care of itself.

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