Creating Your Business Reputation

2007-05-30 Word Count: 772 Category: Business

Reputation is the most important factor in the long term success of your companys efforts. Your reputation is remade each day with every person who interacts with your business. Really you have not one business reputation, but many reputations that arise in the minds of everyone who interact with you in the daily functioning of your business movements. Of equal importance to grasp that you have a reputation with those who have no experience with your business but have heard about you from others.

You may know Joan Jetts tune from days past called Bad Reputation. Joan was a popular musician of her age, but she also had good marketing sense. She made herself as the bad girl of rock, and the song Bad Reputation was a great success. In the ever rebellious world of alternative rock, a woman reveling in her bad reputation was quite popular. She probably fibbed a little in the song when she sang I dont give a damn about my bad reputation as she likely cared a lot about her bad reputation, it was what made her marketable! She used that image to gain immortality.

Unfortunately for many of us, a unacceptable reputation does not stand as a desirable marketing tool to develop our business. The exception besides musicians might be trial lawyers, repo men, or bail bondsmen who are known and valued for their intimidating aura. For the average person it just doesnt work.

You have to be aware that everything you do, and everything your employees do, in relation to your business contributes to your reputation. No Mulligans exist in business. You can strive to remedy situations that might have contributed negatively to your business reputation. In fact, remedying problems appropriately can be a real opportunity. However, you can never undo the memories of things that have caused someone to think negatively about your business.

Each experience you have with customers in your business has one of three outcomes with your reputation at the core. Of these outcomes, there are two that are not desirable, the other one is wonderful!

Experience number one is one you have with a customer, or potential customer, in that while you dont make any serious mistakes, but you also dont set yourself apart from the other companies. You may not think this is the worst outcome, but it isnt far from it. At best, you will be considered typical in the mind of a customer. The customer will either forget you in the future, or consider you a business that was all right last time.

Outcome number two occurs when you, or your employee, has screwed up something badly enough to insure the customer is enraged at you. It can get no worse for your business. In addition to estranging a customer, you have insured you have lost people who hear about you through that customer. Its like a domino effect. If you as a business owner are aware that you have allowed this to occur, then you deserve the evil to come. However, nine times out of ten the business owner knows nothing of what has occurred if the problem occurred with one of their employees, or out of their personal interactions with the customer. You cant assume that angered clients will make time to inform you what occurred. Usually they just never set foot again in your business and there is no way to correct it. If you do become aware of the problem, but neglect to fix it, then again you have every right to the negative reputation it fuels. However, if you take the time to go to every length to right the issue, you will have used found an opportunity in business to show a customer that you want their loyalty and will go the any length or extreme to demonstrate concern.

The third outcome is what every business owner should strive for in every interaction with others. You strive to convince the clients, and potential clients, that not only do you provide first rate products or services, but that you have a concern for how services or materials meet a customers need. It is about establishing a trusting relationship with your clients so that they know you are competent, fair, and focused on meeting their needs. After reaching this goal you are sure youve cultivated a loyal customer whos value surpasses any purchase they make.

Aiding in the creation devoted clients is the focus of the services we provide. Hopefully if you are interested in growing your business through using this strategy you will give thought to signing up for our services.

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