Reputation is Key!

There is a well-known quote that states: “Your reputation precedes you” and this phrase is usually followed by opportunities, investments and partnerships. That is because your reputation is the only thing you have when it comes to success. People will work with you, buy from you and invest in you based on your reputation. Your reputation is shaped by your character and your actions; everything you do or say in life, regardless of your occupation or goals, directly contributes to people’s perception of you- who you are as a person and as a leader. This is the same when it comes to your business.

Organizations as diverse as Samsung and Wells Fargo can attest to the fact that reputation is everything; and with the explosive rise of social media, reputation is only going to become more important. As the saying goes, you’re only one Tweet or Facebook post away from a PR nightmare.

So, what is Business Reputation?

You know how you feel about your business, and you know how you want your business to appear to others, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to how others experience or perceive it.

Your business reputation consists of what others think and feel about your business, based on their experience with your business, what they’ve heard about your business, and the facts they’ve gathered about your business—true or not. It exists both online and off, in loyal customers and in total strangers to your business.

People don’t wait until they have all the information about a business to decide whether to engage with it, or make sure that the information they do have is accurate; they use whatever information is readily available to them to decide. Your business reputation is that readily available information.

Here are 10 tips to maintaining a GOOD reputation:

1.    Always put your best face forward

2.    Keep your promises

3.    Communicate a lot, and keep your clients and team in the loop

4.    Ask for feedback from clients and employees

5.    Actually, RESPOND to feedback!

6.    Go beyond what is expected

7.    Be consistent in your actions

8.    Make others look good

9.    Be like-able

10. Do what you say you will do