Not advertising alone: how can a business create a reliable reputation?
Today, too many companies prioritize the task of attracting customers. However, this is far from the only component of success if we are talking about long-term play. Building and maintaining a reputation is the most important component of company management. Reputation, unlike traffic, cannot be bought.
Reputation is based not only on the image that the company builds itself. The image is greatly influenced by customer reviews. Of the two sources of information, the greater social proof is always the word from customers’ mouths, not what the brand says about itself.
As Steve Jobs, the great visionary of the technology industry, said, a quality product is only part of success, while customers remember the attitude towards them.
“Your product may be amazing, but if the service isn’t great, you’ll lose customers,” he said.
Television icon Oprah Winfrey would agree with Jobs, calling good customer service a kind of love language in the business world.
In the era of social networks, when information spreads at tremendous speed, a word can literally, if not kill, then at least greatly harm a company. And, similarly, positive customer experiences create the necessary trust. Therefore, today we should pay great attention to customer service.
A true pro or a “keyboard expert”?
Another important component of a positive reputation is your offline image. Today, everyone strives to declare their expertise in the virtual space. However, in the huge flow of information, where everyone has become an Internet expert, the problem of trust arises. It is difficult to distinguish between genuine competencies and empty promises.
Participation in exhibitions, conferences, and professional communities shows that you are recognized by your colleagues in the shop, and the cases are not just made up.
Active communication is always more advantageous
Today, manuals are already being created that help distinguish real pros from impostors with good content marketing. Thus, performances on reputable platforms and professional associations indicate reliability. And, most likely, shortly, even more stringent requirements will be imposed on businesses.
The sooner you start taking care of your credibility, the more chances your business has of collaborating with serious market players for whom the reputation of contractors is everything.
Be a thought leader
Leaders shape public opinion rather than simply react to it. An active position creates a reputation as an expert and an authoritative source of information.
Create a connection with clients through expert publications on your platforms and through guest articles. To do this, you need to know well how your customers live, and what worries them, and partially satisfy their needs through quality content.
What is more, the presence of information about the company on the Internet provides it with the ability to manage crises better. Speeches, content on their platforms, positive reviews on behalf of clients, and expert articles in the traditional media create a sustainable business reputation and build trust.
If (or rather, when) a crisis occurs, negative information will not overwhelm you so much if you were previously known as a reliable, honest player. Active communication is always more advantageous — it creates value for you, for the platforms on which you publish, and for the audience.
Creating an expert image is not at all a manipulation of facts. There is no place for exaggeration and lies here. On the contrary, it is active participation in industry discussions, valuable information from representatives, presence at live events, publications that will be approved by editors, and honest customer reviews.
All this cannot be bought, only assembled brick by brick. If you want to become a leader in your niche, the game is worth the candle.
Author: Maria Abdelhalim, founder of the COMMA PR agency
