7 Ways to Protect Your Business’ Reputation
7 Ways to Protect Your Business’ Reputation
Your business is your dream turned into reality. Apart from sheer physical and mental efforts, there is also an emotional dimension that goes into building your business. You are forever thinking of aspects and strategies that add further value to your precious business. Building and maintaining your business reputation is something you cannot ignore!
A stellar reputation boosts your business sales, market value and stakeholder perception. So, how do you go about contributing to a positive business reputation? Here are some ideas:
Establish Proper Communication Channels
This is the age of instant communication. Be it customer feedback, service review, or a viral product video, word travels rapidly across the world on the Internet. Ensure that you have proper channels of communication with your customers. Clear, constant, and direct communication is the first step to building your reputation.
Have a responsive customer service team offline. Make sure customers can reach you easily and quickly without a hassle. Ensure your contact information is easily accessible on the website. Provide as many channels of communication as possible including online chat, email, and social media. This way, your customers can reach you instantly on the go.
Maintain a Strong Online Presence
This starts with creating an efficient website for your business. Optimise your website for your target keywords to ensure you rank on the first page of Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).
Make sure the content is simple, to the point and easy to digest. Give them plenty of opportunities to interact with you. It could be in the form of a call back service, feedback form, blog comments, and newsletter or forum invitations.
Don’t miss the action on social media pages. Build an informative blog about your industry; create a social media page informing about your business and keep your followers engaged. Be of utmost help to your audience – share engaging articles or videos, or provide a solution to a problem they are facing.
An active and positive online presence generates goodwill for your business, and the word is sure to spread quickly.
Get Involved Offline
How you behave with your local community matters too. Invest time to understand the local culture and activities. Contribute to issues that the locals are serious about – for example, you could donate for a charity cause. Sponsor local activities such as games or theatrical shows. Be there for customers who come with a problem, seeking a solution. These initiatives show that you care not just about your business but the people who make it happen, too.
Interact, Listen, Analyse and Adopt
Listen to what people are saying about your business online and offline. Extend thanks for positive feedback. Handle negative feedback with empathy and patience. Analyse what your customers need (e.g. a better product, problem resolution, etc.) and adopt suitable strategies to address the needs.
Respond with Poise during Controversies
How you behave and respond during a bad situation is most likely to stay with customers and onlookers for a long time, and can affect your business reputation. Avoid reacting hastily. Study the situation. If an employee has indeed erred, for example, have him apologise, or even removed for serious offenses. This displays your stand to the public.
Engage in direct communication with stakeholders. Issue a press release to share pertinent details once necessary action has been taken.
Cultivate a People-Oriented Business Approach
Your business is not an isolated entity. It is made up of invaluable contributions of a number of people. Make all stakeholders, including investors, employees, and customers, an active part of your business. Treat your customers well. Adopt a work culture that respects your employees.
Impress with a Solution-Oriented Business
Last, but not least, it is ultimately the business product or service that makes or breaks your reputation. Make your vision concrete with practical research data. Understand customer needs and assess if people are really ready for a product or service such as yours.
People are always ready to pay more for quality service or product. Create exceptional products and services and have the world talking about you.
With much going on your business reputation, it is always better to make the effort to get started and going.