Law 5

So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life

In business, reputation means so much! Potential customers can be lost before they ever get to experience your products or services if your business has a bad reputation. It is of the utmost importance to manage and guard your company’s reputation. A bad reputation is especially damaging to your small business when it come to ‘word of mouth’ recommendations from past clients.  Customers are more likely to tell others of a bad encounter with your business than they are to tell of a good experience with your business.

Here are some ways to manage and protect your business reputation:

1. Be honest with your customers
   • Don’t accept tasks that you can’t complete – tell your customer if their request is beyond your expertise. It’s better to lose the business on one occasion, than to fail and lose the customer.
   • Don’t promise anything you are not sure you can deliver – don’t make promises you can’t keep. It is very tempting to do this at the point you feel you are about to close the deal, but refrain; breaking a promise will taint your reputation.
2. Manage customer expectations
   • Don’t agree to deadlines that you already know you can’t meet – customers often don’t understand your business operations and will often under-estimate the time needed to complete a particular project. Don’t agree to an impossible deadline; it’s better to pass on the project.
   • Tell clients if their expected outcome is not reasonable – this is an extension of the last point… tell your customer if they are expecting an outcome that you already know is unlikely.
3. Inform your customers
   • Inform your clients of your processes and/or procedures – give your customers some sense of what their request involves so they can understand the process and have a better understanding if something has to change.
   • Inform your clients of any changes that occur – tell your clients if any changes that will affect the services they receive or the product they expect, in a timely manner.
4. Provide support for your products or services
   • Be accessible to your customers – this is one of the quickest ways to damage your reputation with a customer. Customers want to feel that they can contact you when they have a question or a problem.
5. Give existing customers incentive to tell others about your business
   • Offer a small discount on a return visit if they refer someone
   • Show your customers some appreciation, by using small value-adds to your products or services. (ex. create an inviting atmosphere for your business)

Remember: You will never satisfy every one and this applies to customers as well. In general, being professional, honest and accessible will be enough for most customers to have a good feeling about their encounter with your business.