Published: January 5, 2021 | Last updated: October 9, 2023
Reputation overview:
2. Positive reputation through customer reviews
3. Building a reputation ─ but how?
4. How does successful reputation management work?
What is reputation?
Numerous definitions can be found online, such as that of the Gabler Business Encyclopedia: Reputation describes the standing of a person or an organization based on experience
A distinction is made here between the reputation that a person has and that which a company or brand earns. For a company, this means how it is perceived by all its stakeholders (buyers, users, investors, etc.). This primarily involves reviewing and evaluating past events and opinions and using them as a basis. Based on this, future behaviors are then derived as to whether or not you as a company and your reputation are trusted. Four characteristics of a good reputation include:
1. Credibility
2. Reliability
3. Trustworthiness
4. Responsibility
What else can you learn about reputation? Dive deeper into the four dimensions of reputation.
Positive reputation through customer reviews
A good reputation is not built overnight. Rather, it is the result of regularly incoming reviews that create a certain image of your company. It is important to manage this positively. A negative press report can quickly scratch or even severely shake your good reputation. Even though a company's reputation cannot be measured as a financial value, it has a greater impact on the company and its sales.
Often, companies engage in more of a crisis management approach when the damage has already been done. Actively cultivating a good reputation pays off, with annual sales being shown to increase by up to 54%. Reputational risks can be identified and avoided at an early stage with only a small, regular effort.
As a rule of thumb, be proactive and preventive, and do not wait until a problem arises. Identify potential risk factors early, check and evaluate all reviews on the internet periodically, and actively collect new reviews from your customers regularly. Trust is essential to the success of your business. Therefore, it is important to keep track of all platforms on which you can be reviewed. Setting various Google Alerts or using software to manage all your reviews can help. Including ProvenExpert’s Online Reputation Management tool.
Building reputation - but how?
What is the difference between corporate identity and corporate reputation? Your reputation represents an intangible asset for your company. For this reason, you should never leave to chance which image of you, your company, and the products and services is relayed. The corporate image defines you, but reality and imagination can often diverge. Every business radiates a certain brand image, and is perceived in a certain way by the outside world.
A company's image is always created at the emotional level, so users and customers need to develop an emotional bond with your company or its products. Address your customers' problems or wishes directly, make them see why you, your company and your performance can help to simplify their lives. Over time, the external image can thus consolidate and stabilize, but that doesn't mean you can simply lean back at this point. The external image is subject to constant dynamics and must therefore always be monitored.
Corporate identity is your entrepreneurial self-image: How do you see your company, your products, your brand? The personality, behavior, design and communication of your company play a decisive role in your self-image. These four areas should complement each other to create a stable public perception. An appealing reputation prevails when a brand radiates credibility and trust in the long term and even minor fluctuations cannot damage the image in the long term.
How does successful reputation management work?
External and self-image should always match to appear credible over time. But what can you do to gain a distinct competitive advantage? Your good name is your top priority, and you actively manage your reputation. You regularly respond to reviews and are available to your customers and users. But do you know where exactly people are talking about you online? Tracking customer reviews on the web can quickly escalate into a full-time job.
If you focus only on the best-known review platforms, you may miss out on information regarding your reputation online. Your customers want to be heard - so you need to respond to both praise and criticism in equal measure and, above all, promptly and appropriately.
With ProvenExpert.com. you can keep track of your online reputation, bundle several hundred review platforms and sites, and also get tips on how to best deal with reviews - even if it' s a hailstorm of criticism. To learn more about improving your online reputation, check out this guide.
Summary
A great online reputation takes years to build and seconds to be destroyed. A long-lasting online reputation is what separates the most successful businesses.
- Reputation describes the standing of a person or an organization based on experience
- A good reputation is not built overnight. Rather, it is the result of regularly incoming reviews that create a certain image of your company
- As a rule of thumb, be proactive and preventive, and do not wait until a problem arises.
- A company's image is always created at the emotional level, so users and customers need to develop an emotional bond with your company or its products
- Corporate identity is your entrepreneurial self-image: How you see your company, your products, and your brand
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