In the fickle world of business, your success or failure often hinges upon a somewhat unquantifiable metric: the relationships and reputation you have developed over time and now carry with you.
In today’s online marketplace, scorecards such as your net promoter level and the ratings achieved on sites such as TripAdvisor (or your industry equivalent) help prospects gain an insight into how trustworthy and expert you really are. But they do rely on an important element which is by no means guaranteed; the action of positive reviews and commentary by your clients.
Whilst many businesses are doing great things, in most cases, they will at some stage muck something up or be afflicted by factors beyond their control. The net result being that a client’s experience is less than perfect. It’s a sad fact that when anything like this happens, a far greater proportion of consumers will complain than those who offer praise or thanks when things are going swimmingly… and not to you!
In reality, you do hear about it when things go well. Clients contact you and say thanks or, if you are lucky, provide a pleasant missive via email or letter. If you are exceptionally lucky, they’ll talk about you on their social media or blogs. But more often than not, they’ll limit the audience for praise to the person who provided the service. After all, it’s nice to say thanks!
So, the balance of appreciation or damnation is decidedly private or public, in that order. But what if you wanted to change that?
That’s where PR comes in. The public showcasing of your brilliance and the ability to minimise coverage of your mistakes until there’s a solution to talk about, is becoming ever more important. Particularly as the channels for promotion and public flogging are that much more instant and effective than has ever been the case before.
The value? Well… what’s the value of a reputation? It might be more than you think…
Contact us to find out how we our PR services can help with reputation management.