I read a number of blogs, and two of my favorites are Jonathan Fitzgarrald’s Bad for the Brand and Heather Milligan’s The Legal Water Cooler. Both blogs are well written and often focus on the subject of “reputation management,” or what we at Moiré like to refer to as “becoming a brand ambassador.”
Having a team of strong brand ambassadors is critical in the success of any organization, law firm, accounting firm, consultancy, etc. because we all know the old adage; “people don’t hire firms, they hire lawyers or accountants.” The same is true for the individuals that market or sell professional services, or products to companies and organizations. I have sat on and moderated a large number of panels where buyers of professional services have conformed this over and over. There are a number of keys to developing strong client relationships, but one of the most important is becoming a “trusted advisor.” This is where we can all benefit from honing our reputation management skills and why I work on mine constantly.
Psychology Today states that a good reputation is a fragile thing, requiring constant feeding and staying consistent. If you live up to your reputation 99% of the time but fail to do so 1% of the time, you risk causing greater damage to your client and your own organization. A good reputation should be a natural outgrowth of striving to be the person you most want to be. So what are the benefits of developing an excellent business reputation?
- Someone that has nourished a good reputation and has become a good brand ambassador will have a network that will come to their defense and perhaps even be recommended without ever knowing it.
- A good reputation is something that you maintain, an ideal that pushes you to aim to be a better brand ambassador. A good brand ambassador allows their reputation to serve as a motivational tool to continually work to grow and improve himself/herself.
- A good reputation is a great marketing strategy—so implement it into your plan, rather than thinking about it as a stand-along tactic or strategy. When firms find a service provider of any kind whose performance outshines the competition, they become more than a vendor. They become a trusted advisor and are like gold to most clients. These individuals and their companies will be used repeatedly and recommended enthusiastically to others.
- A good reputation and brand ambassador inspires others. Even the best and brightest among us can learn from others. Listen and learn, you never know where the next great idea will come from.
I guess I’ve grown to like Jonathan and Heather’s blogs (just to mention two) because they have taught me that I need to care about my reputation and be the best brand ambassador I can be for Moiré Marketing Partners. Every action I make not only reflects upon me but on Moiré as well. It means recognizing that I have a responsibility to my colleagues so that, together, we can be successful as a business and as a business partner to our clients.
So what are you doing to boost your business reputation?
