Your business reputation is invisible yet it plays an important role in your overall success. It’s not something you can directly invest in and it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to build it slowly and carefully.
There are many steps in this process and you should consider each one as a separate but important task.
Here are some tips:
Deliver what you promise
As you start your company, you start to build your reputation. Now, in those first days, you have nothing to build upon. But there is one good thing you can do — always deliver on your promises. Remember that this is the key rule. Never disappoint. Always delight.
It’s better to underpromise and overdeliver than to overpromise and underdeliver.
Be reliable and responsive
Customers respect a business that they can rely on. This is why, especially at the beginning, you need to be there. In case there is a problem, a mistake, a change in plans — you have to be there to fix it and keep your customers happy. You need to respond to complaints as well and try your best to erase the memory of the mistake with some of the complaint management tools.
Invest in good web design
Your website is probably the first thing your customers will see. As such, it should be superb. It has to reflect your brand and your values, look appealing, be easy to navigate, fast when loading and responsive to mobile. It affects the impression readers have of you which inherently affects the number of conversions you make.
Provide useful content
One of the main reasons users stick with brands is sometimes not the quality of their products but rather the quality of content they produce.
Useful tips on various topics related to your niche or your products are always welcome. This also helps position yourself as an authority in the field. You can also produce white papers or instructional videos that contain valuable knowledge.
Define your brand and remain consistent
Once you start your business, you should start building a brand.
A brand is more than just your logo — it’s how people see you, how you interact with them. It needs to be steady and consistent. Figure out your brand voice — will it be casual and friendly or formal and authoritative? Will the content you produce be strictly promotional or will you dedicate your time to create informative or educational articles? How responsive do you plan to be?
These are all of the questions that you should ask before you even start.
Express your values and take a stance
As a business, you can’t be neutral on the burning topics and various events. This leaves you out of the conversation. You need to express your values publicly. Now, this approach can be risky because you leave out those who don’t hold the same values. In return, you gather more like-minded people around you and their respect of your brand will be bigger than ever.
Social media is a great place to do that. Be careful, though, with how you say things.
Share your story
It’s a known fact that people like to hear about stories of success. How did you get here? What were your struggles? What are your goals? These are some of the questions that your story should answer. It gives your customers a chance to get to know you and feel some empathy for your brand and your struggles. Include this on your ‘About Us’ page but also seamlessly embed it with everything your brand does.
Be kind
Nothing beats kindness. Customers don’t want to call your company only to talk to someone rude. They don’t want to visit your social media and see rude comments below posts. What they will appreciate instead is a company that cares about its customers and invests their time into answering their questions and concerns. While being sarcastic, for example, may be a part of your brand voice, you should always avoid offending your customers.
Bottom line
Building a good business reputation is not easy. There are many traps and obstacles awaiting along the way. You may take a few wrong turns but you should always make it your main focus to maintain a good public image and a good relationship with customers.
