Business reputation impacts on customer opinion before they engage with you, these 10 tips explore how we can improve our business reputation.
Research Company Image
Searching for your company will yield a range of views. We have all been told to search ourselves to understand our digital footprint but businesses rarely do the same. Prospect clients and candidates will research you and the first articles and links that appear will shape their impressions. Whilst we have limited control around what is published about us online we can manage this by publishing articles and content that tell our story and message.
Understand Staff Values
Are you staff promoting your business or complaining away from work. Our staff can be our best ambassadors or worst enemies, it is not a given that because we employ someone they will speak kindly of us. We need to ensure our staff are engaged and valued, they will then become our best promoters and lift our image and generate leads.
Value Customer Opinions
Reviews are an opportunity to gather feedback and engage with customers. These do not have to be published but provide the chance to understand what we are actually delivering compared to our pre-conceptions. Small details can make the difference to repeat custom and only by asking for feedback can we improve products and services to meet changing market expectations.
Create Brand Loyalty
Repeat business is a sign you are doing something right. Working with our teams we should be analysing customer behaviour to establish what percentage of our business is repeat and what is new. It costs 5 times as much to attract new customers than to keep existing ones, therefor, it is worth our time and investment to understand our current customers and build their loyalty.
Culture
Companies with good culture make headlines and generate positive PR. Awards such as ‘Best Company to Work for’ provide an indication of businesses who are focussed on their people, this positive PR helps build a good reputation. Conversely companies who come under fire for working conditions receive negative press and in extreme cases lose customers who don’t won’t make purchases under ethical grounds.
Review Glassdoor
The first place many candidates look when researching a business. Glassdoor is a resource that allows current and past employees to review businesses and salaries, unfortunately as we know people are more likely to review following a negative experience. However, again candidates will look at sites like this as part of their research and if everything is negative it will reflect badly before you make a physical first impression.
Build Digital Presence
Are you publishing content that makes you a thought leader in your market. Having the marketing team publish content is only worthwhile if it is good and relevant. Rather than commentating on what has happened we should be using our experience and analysing what future trends we will see. As business leaders we want to be thought leaders, rather than relying on others we can take charge and publish content under our names or engage further through interviews and speaking appearances.
Embrace Social Media
Engaging with clients and candidates across social media can create engagement and enhance reputation. Whilst not relevant for every business social media is where clients and consumers spend a vast amount time these days. If a business has social media accounts they need to be active and responsive, brands who create accounts and then never use them actual damage their reputation.
Monitor Business Performance
“Success breeds success”. Strong performance generates interest. Whilst no business wants to fail we have to accept that things don’t always go to plan, when this happens we need to manage the situation to keep our reputations. Conversely when we are doing well we want to project the image of success and talk about it, other businesses will be more inclined to work with us if they see us as successful and able to pull them forwards on the journey.
Tell your Story
Do you have a story to tell that creates a personality for your business. Every company and business leader has a story and it should be told as part of the customer journey, we buy from people we like and a business founded on our views and beliefs is going to be a more appealing prospect.
Further Information
Improving business reputation is just one area that we provide support with; we work with you to identify opportunities in the business and help design and implement your strategic plan for growth.
