When it comes to the business world, the old adage ‘it matters not what other people think about you, but what you think about yourself’ is not true. Crafting a good reputation is different to just leaving it with the opinions of others. Although you cannot control the personal bias of the individual, you can take action to nudge opinions in a more positive or negative direction.
Everyone has a reputation, good or bad, and now this perception happens in real life and online. Contrary to what people often say, it does matter what other people think, because businesses do not survive without public opinion. We are a social species and thus, programmed to really care about what other people think.
The fastest way to get a positive reputation, be it a personal or business one, is to behave in a way that provides benefits for people closest to you. These include positive qualities such as kindness, honesty, generosity, charity and integrity. These properties can pay dividends for business, in particular – it’s simple psychology. The threat of social ostracism is enough to prevent us from doing the wrong thing, even when we could easily do the wrong thing. In human history, going against socially accepted norms could mean being cast out, leading to possible suffering, so that explains why we are conditioned to do the right thing to save our reputation.
Brand reputation involves three elements – how people see the business, who is that business and how businesses communicate about themselves. Even if one of these factors is off, it can affect the whole reputation.
Factors shaping the reputation of brands include visual cues, such as logos, names and other images related to the business. It also includes the values, mission and philosophy of the company. The way that the staff behave also affects the reputation of the brand. What they say, write and post on social media, as well as online reviews.
Brand reputation is fluid and often tricky to pin down. The responsibility to maintain a reputation normally falls to two areas joined together, such as marketing and communication departments. Human resources and external agencies can also pull together to foster a positive image. If you think you need a professional public relations firm with expertise in reputation management, contact a Cheltenham PR Agency like targetgroup.co.uk/
Creating and maintaining a good reputation for business is not an easy job. Consistency is the key and many experts suggest a slow and steady approach. Customers appreciate the feeling of comfort and that they can trust an organisation, so that if that business is too fast to change their identity, they could lose custom in the long term.
Reputation can make or break a business and a positive reputation is a symbol of social inclusion, while a negative one results in feeling ostracized in society. A negative reputation can cause loss of profit, staff lay-offs and labour problems. Reputation is far-reaching in the corporate world, has an impact on many groups, including stakeholders, executives, customers and local communities.