Partner Article

Reputation: Manage it and don’t ignore it

In the words of one of the world’s most successful investors, Warren Buffett: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

The way reputation is managed has changed significantly in recent decades. Looking back only twenty years ago to pre-internet culture, the reputation of a business derived nearly exclusively from word of mouth. Businesses would gain feedback from those associated with the company – whether that be clients, suppliers, or customers – and take action to build and maintain a favourable reputation.

Reputation in the digital age

The technology we have access to today means it’s never been easier for people to vocalise their thoughts on social media, online forums, review platforms and beyond. Unlike the limited reach of word-of-mouth, online commentary has the potential to reach infinite numbers of people. This environment means it’s never been more important that businesses both understand and manage their online reputation.

Even those businesses without an active online presence still have an online reputation to monitor and nurture. Externally, they can be added to maps and reviewed and rated online. Internally, employees have access to whistle-blowing and opinion sharing platforms.

Online reputation is also an integral part of the purchase decision process. Consumers in the market for a particular product or service regularly take to search engines and forums to read previous customers’ feedback before making the investment.

After taking the time to research, people will not be prepared to engage with a company which has been negatively reviewed. Instead, they’ll naturally favour those with higher ratings, with the goods at the price which is right for them. If a company’s review portfolio is limited, and influence from previous buyers absent, it may deter customers from making a purchase.

Online reputation is unavoidable. When customers can source online reputation information before buying or entering contracts with a business, it matters. A lack of information online puts businesses at risk of losing out on attention to their competitors which have that available.

The reputation scale

The reputation score of a business is a measure of its online reputation. This can be measured through a combination of online customer reviews, as well as overall online presence.

Take SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) for example – how well does a company perform when searched in popular engines? Is it listed accurately in all relevant and influential directories? It’s a significant concern; so taking research-driven action is a sensible move. But what is it exactly businesses need to do?

Benchmark where your reputation currently stands through research. Use social media and search engines to gauge where your business has a presence and how strong it is.

Establish and expand an online brand presence. Get the name out and actively strive to promote it sensibly and honestly. Don’t ignore the bad reviews. Instead look into them and work out what it is which makes them negative and what needs to be done to overcome those factors.

Keep the reviewing cycle going. How the business envisages an online reputation strategy developing will probably dictate how much resource is channelled into the process, but whatever is decided, it will need periodic reviews to confirm it’s working.

The reviewing process doesn’t need to be complex – it can be as simple as repeating research once every month. Whatever method is chosen, it’s important that insights are leveraged to inform business decisions and shape strategies.

Reputation. Manage it, nurture it, but definitely don’t ignore it.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ade Potts .