Reputation: It arrives on foot but departs on horseback

Everyone knows instinctively what reputation is – but most struggle to define it.

After all, it is such an intangible thing. How do you measure it, monitor it and protect it?

Some tend to confuse their company brand with reputation; your brand is how you want people to perceive your business. But reputation is a two-way dialogue. The CIPR has a simple and perfect definition of reputation: "Your reputation is based on what you do, what you say, and what others say about you". So, in some ways, reputation is an emotional response based on the strength of the relationship that others have with your business. It can also have very serious implications for your business if it is not being managed well.

The American business tycoon Warren Buffet once said: "Lose money for my firm and I will be understanding – lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless."

From a simplistic viewpoint, companies that are passionate about their products and services should develop a strong reputation without even needing to work at it. However, that reputation can quickly become tarnished if you fail to protect it. Public relations is all about protecting and managing that reputation. Here's another definition for you: "Public relations is a planned and consistent programme of communication between an organisation and its audiences."

My advice to all small to medium-sized businesses is therefore to recognise that all of your various audiences or stakeholders are important and play a role in building a great reputation. You need to communicate with them to keep that reputation strong.

Ask yourself if you really know what the following groups think of your business: customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, the public? The list could go on. Are you talking to them? Do you have a plan to keep them informed? If just one of these groups currently has a negative feeling towards your business then you are potentially heading for trouble. Organisations that are looking to grow and develop must understand how they are perceived by all of these groups. So, take time to talk to all stakeholders. Take their temperature in terms of their view of you. Understand them and their issues and develop strong relationships with them. And then communicate accordingly.

Address their concerns. Share your own plans and monitor the effect. You will find it pays dividends as you grow and develop.

Finally, all the surveys and received wisdom in this area agree that the three groups that have the biggest impact on your reputation are your employees, your customers and your chief executive. So, make sure your CEO understands that a reputation is something to work on and protect – and that the work of a lifetime can be destroyed in a moment.

 

Reproduced by kind permission of Kevin Taylor, former president of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).

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