HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR REPUTATION?

Have you ever been waiting to meet someone and as you stood there with your hand outstretched they said “I’ve heard a lot about you”!

For a moment your mind goes into hyper speed replaying every conversation and Facebook post hoping that what they heard was good?  My parents always used to say to me “your reputation precedes you” and how very true that is.

Your personal reputation and credibility along with the reputation and credibility of the organisation you work for or own is absolute paramount in today’s business world where more than ever personal recommendations are the strongest influencer in customers decision making.

Nobody will recommend any person or business that has a bad reputation or lacks credibility. What is unfortunate though is that customers have long term memories and seem to always remember the “poor service or the lack of their favourite dish on the menu” and then repeat these stories for years to come even when the ownership of the business may have changed many times.

So how do you ensure that your reputation and credibility precedes you in a positive and even an inquisitive manner? (wanting to know more about you or your organisation).

What does your marketing say about your organisation and what are you and your team saying?  Do you have positive conversation encounters with your customers?

When it comes to your reputation you are the one in “control”, what you say, how you say it, where you say it and who you say it to is your “choice”.  Take a reputation audit on yourself:

• What does your social media portray you as?
• What do your team say about you?
• What do you say about yourself?
• Who is in your inner circle?

Whether you like it not people judge, lie and gossip which impacts on your reputation.  Of course you can’t control those who have a grudge about you or your organisation and only tell their side of the story, you can’t control every situation but what you can control is what you put out there.

In my recent podcast I interviewed Dr Neryl East who is a thirty (30) year veteran in Journalism who has seen her fair share and assisted many senior managers in corporate and Government over recent years in maintaining their reputation and credibility.  Take a listen http://michellepascoe.com/blog/podcast/ep26-the-power-of-credibility/

Every team member represents your organisation therefore it is important when they are representing your organisation that they maintain the reputation and credibility to a high standard that has your customers returning and recommending others.

Remember “your reputation precedes you” and that goes for your organisation as well.