Reputation is everything. In fact, your business’ reputation is essential to driving sales, retaining customers, scaling up and making a profit. A good reputation means that you’re not forced to compete on price and can enjoy better profit margins, as well as more opportunities for lucrative partnerships with other reputable businesses. But as the saying goes, it takes years to build a good reputation and only a second to lose it. So how do you go about protecting your business’ reputation? We’ve put together five ways that you can maintain a good reputation to ensure that your business continues to thrive for years to come.

#1 - Generate Good Press

They say that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Whilst this may be true for celebrities, it certainly doesn’t apply to businesses.

It’s important to create accurate press releases and build good relationships with journalists, so that your business remains in the media’s good graces. Not only does this help you to build brand awareness and strengthen your reputation, it also helps you to use publicity to ensure that any problems or bad reviews do not destroy your good name.

Press releases allow you to tell your own story, so it’s important to provide factual insights and use them to clarify and reassure your customers, without using spin or manipulation tactics.

#2 - Verify Buyers’ Age Online

If you sell products with age-restrictions, such as alcohol, then it’s important to put a strong verification system in place to ensure that you are not selling these products to minors.

In store, it’s easy for cashiers to ask for ID at checkout. However, things are more complicated online.

Many e-commerce sites ask users to confirm that they are of a certain age before entering. However, anyone can simply tick a box and enter. In order to maintain a good reputation, you need to take extra measures to ensure that you are not selling prohibited products to underage customers.

For example, you might require users to upload a valid form of ID, such as a driving licence or passport, when they make an account. Alternatively, you might require your shipping company to ask for ID upon delivery.

#3 - Employee Satisfaction

Unhappy employees won’t hesitate to speak badly of your company - particularly after they leave. Companies that treat their staff poorly and create a toxic work environment quickly gain a bad name.

Abercrombie and Fitch, for example, garnered a profoundly negative reputation after several of their former employees filed lawsuits against them. As a result, they have had to spend a huge amount of money overhauling their company to create a more inclusive imagine. Then recently, they became the subject of a very telling Netflix documentary that has further damaged their reputation and destroyed much of the rebrand’s credibility.

It’s important to create open lines of communication with your employees, treat them fairly and ensure that all members of staff feel valued, no matter their position within the company. Promoting safety, wellbeing and good workplace relationships will go a long way in creating a positive company culture and building a reputation that your business is a great one to work for. This, in turn, will help you to attract new talent and drive your business forwards.

#4 - Prioritise Customer Service

Great customer service is the key to a strong reputation. If you can provide an excellent service, you will be able to garner a great deal of social proof to give your business credibility. And remember, customers will be willing to pay more for top-notch service.

Delivering an amazing customer experience leads to more reviews and recommendations, and keeps your existing customers coming back for more.

In order to achieve this, you need to make the customer journey seamless from start to finish. This includes providing helpful information to ensure that your customers make the right choice, offering supportive and friendly customer service and delivering excellent post-sale care.

#5 - Invest in Cybersecurity

Security breaks and data leaks can do irreparable damage to your business’ reputation, particularly if your customers themselves become victims of fraud and cybercrime due to your negligence.

Cybercrime rose sharply during the pandemic and the continued popularity of remote work is providing new opportunities for hackers to strike. Therefore, it’s important to invest in strong cybersecurity measures to keep your business safe and maintain a good reputation.

Final Thoughts

Both customer and employee satisfaction are crucial elements of maintaining a good business reputation, and these two elements feed into one another. Happy employees will be willing to go the extra mile to deliver an excellent service, whilst happy customers are easier to serve and nurture. At the same time, it’s important to manage public relations carefully and maintain a good relationship with the press so that you can control your business’ narrative.

Finally, remember that it’s impossible to buy a good reputation; it’s something that has to be earned