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Rule 1: Recognize Your
Shortcomings
Examine your reputation and
assess if your current business practices still build the reputation you desire.
Only by first recognizing discrepancies and problems can you take steps to fix
them. The sooner you come clean, the sooner you can fix them and do “damage
control” before it reaches a crisis situation.
Sometimes lapses in
communication or alienation from customers are the causes of problems.
For more serious faults, a
public apology is almost essential to strengthening your reputation.
Rule 2: Stay Vigilant
Damages to reputation can
happen suddenly and over time. Managers must be vigilant and act quickly on
either instance because both can be equally damaging and have long-term effects.
Someone should always be
watching… and thinking. In the age of the Internet even local news can be known
globally in minutes. But not all news is true news.
A sudden or instinctive and
unconsidered response (like an inadvertent admission of guilt with an apology)
is just as potentially damaging as doing nothing in the hope a situation will
abate.
Rule 3: Make Your
Employees Your Reputation Champions
Employees are the first
direct contact between a corporation and its customers. Naturally, employee
behavior has a large impact on the company's reputation both on and off the job,
from how they service the customer to how they talk about the corporation with
friends, relatives, etc.
Culture is important to
shaping employee behavior, including frank, frequent, and sincere dialogue with
upper management. It is up to managers to indoctrinate, encourage, and empower
the employees about the corporation.
The employee's attitude is an
intangible that customers will recognize and act on. Corporate ambassadors can
work both ways. Just as an enthusiastic worker is a reputation builder, so is a
disgruntled employee a reputation wrecker.
Rule 4: Control the
Internet Before It Controls You
The World Wide Web is an
extraordinary tool and can be a boon or bane to your reputation. The World Wide
Web has no regulatory body to separate the truth from the lies.
It is estimated over 1
billion people are able to interact with each other by 2010. Surprisingly, a
survey by Hill & Knowlton and Chief Executive Magazine found 16% of companies
monitor the Internet closely, 39% check it periodically, and 43% don't bother.
There is no guaranteed
strategy for dealing with the Internet based attacks on reputation.
Because of the large volume
of information from the Internet some companies resort to hiring independent
groups to act as watchdogs for their company or products.
Actual response to Internet
attacks varies; but some response is necessary. Not all written on the Internet
about your corporation is bad. Among the disgruntled and the malicious, there
are also the loyal enthusiasts who trumpet the virtues of the product and
company: free advertising and worth many times more than company sponsored ads.
The unregulated Internet also
provides a venue for corporations to put positive spin on many issues. Many
companies now have videos of its factories in developing countries and talks
about their social programs for their workers like schooling, etc.
Rule 5: Speak with a
Single Voice
Corporations allocate major
funding towards building their brand. As a corporation grows and diversifies its
products, there is a tendency to stray from the corporate brand. The result of
this is weakening of the corporate brand and weakening of their reputation. A
startling example comes from IBM, which in 1993 had more than 800 different
logos!
Consistency does not mean
that the corporate brand never changes, sometimes a fresh look is necessary to
adapt to changing times or refocusing of its vision. It is important to
distinguish between following short-lived trends and evolving long-term goals.
Customers identify with a
strong corporate brand. When customers enter Starbucks in a new region, they
expect the same experience as the Starbucks back home. The same is true for
products and services. The corporate brand becomes an assurance of quality and
is backed by their reputation.
Rule 6: Beware the Dangers
of Reputation Rub-Off
There is a saying that goes,
“Birds of the same feather flock together.” When two or more corporations enter
into a partnership or work together; their reputations may be attributed to each
other.
Sometimes this is desirable
and is intentional. It is important to keep in mind the intention doesn't
necessarily translate to the desired effect.
Ideally the new partnership
performs better than the sum of its parts and each one's reputation enhances the
other.
Sometimes unforeseen actions
or events by one or another party drag everyone down. Just like marriage, a
partnership is difficult to dissolve and the after effects of the union may
extend long after everyone has gone their separate ways. History is replete with
examples of both the successful and failed. |
