Reputations

Beth LaBreche
LaBreche
612.338.0901
bl*******@*****************ns.com
www.labrechereputations.com

Put words in
their mouths
to build brand

LONG-TERM SUCCESS? Who can think about that when there are so many short-term needs?

Unfortunately, owners of small and new growth businesses sometimes can’t think beyond office furniture, their first few employees or where to find the next customer. Fortunately, however, long-term success is in the back of every entrepreneur’s mind.

So here’s one more thing to add to the to-do list: Reserve time now for a reputation management plan.

Reputation is how your company is viewed by others – what they know, think and how they feel about your company. Reputation is something you stand for, and eventually become known for.

While it may seem amorphous, how can you get your arms around a reputation, much less proactively manage one?  There is a thoughtful, logical way to spend time assessing and planning for how to build, strengthen and protect your company’s reputation.

First, key messages
Describe on paper how your company is positioned. Positioning combines why you started the company, what you do and how you’re different. If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you probably have this in your head but haven’t yet drafted it in a way that will allow you to use it.

Right after you’ve crafted a positioning statement, write out key messages about your company – no more than three. These key messages, when verbalized, comprise your elevator speech; if you had just a minute to ride up in an elevator with another person, what would you say about your business? (And what do you eventually want others to say about your business?)

Key messages take positioning one step further; they describe not only what you do but how you’re distinguished as better than the ice.

Think about your reputation. It’s tough to make time to assume what others know about and think about your business, especially if you’re only in your first months or year of operation. The good news is your reputation can be whatever you make it. There’s only one way to go from here in building awareness and preference and prompting potential customers to take action.

Recognize that your reputation will be at the intersection of how you conduct your business, what you communicate about your business, and what others know, think and feel about your business.

Make a purposeful plan for understanding and managing all that you can that affects each circle, and you’ll have a reputation management plan that will set the blueprint for the company for years to come.

Examine inputs
Existing ‘inputs’ make up the current reputation of your company. Think about each to truly understand your starting point, which will help you define realistic goals for your desired reputation.

Then test your key messages against where your company is currently ‘coming from’ to determine if they are believable and if they can be promoted given current circumstances.

Existing reputation inputs can include:

• Your industry. Industries themselves have reputations, which change according to circumstances. Think about what the accounting industry was dealing with just a few years ago, or the reputation oil companies have today, with both gas prices and stock prices soaring.

• Your personal reputation. Be realistic when thinking about your own spheres of influence. Are you a seasoned professional whose name will be on the door, or are you fresh out of college and haven’t even met those who will make your business successful? Construct a personal marketing plan that specifically fills the gap in awareness and knowledge of your company from board involvements to club memberships to speaking opportunities and prospective client entertainment.

• Your competitors. When people first hear about your business, they’ll naturally categorize you against your competitors. Think about how you’ll communicate your position against others until you’ve been around enough to build your own brand.

• Stereotypes of new and small businesses. As a new or emerging entrepreneur, realize that you most likely must deal with the common perceptions of ‘hungry = cheap’ or ‘new = inexperienced’ and ‘unknown = unproven’. Work out how you’ll communicate against these objections.

Now, create
Make a list of reputation inputs that you can control – those you can purposefully create or use to underscore your desired positioning. Controllable inputs to help craft your reputation moving forward include:

• Quality of your product/service.

• Who you hire. Employees are your best brand stewards and when you have but a few, the reputation they carry out into the marketplace is priceless, especially if you’ve solidified your key messages to share with them.

• Who your customers are. When your reputation is young, the customers you choose help tell the story about what type of company you run.

• The experience of working with your company. From how you answer the phone to how your invoices appear, bring the experience of working with your business to life using every available interaction.  

• Build your marketing plan, with each marketing opportunity accurately translating your key messages and communicating the reputation you want moving forward. It may be a good investment at this point to hire a professional to prepare a marketing plan that is scalable to your business; most companies budget 5 percent to 8 percent of their annual revenue for marketing activities.

• Your identity. Put a brand on your company that is both memorable and meaningful with attributes that characterize your company. Put thought behind every aspect of the brand so it will pull the heaviest load in communicating your reputation to others.

• Marketing materials. List what you’ll need to introduce yourself to, stay connected to and remain relevant to your key audiences.

• Everyday opportunities. When you’re a new company with limited help, marketing dollars and hours in the day, every engagement will be an opportunity to build and strengthen your reputation. Consistency in positioning and messaging will be key.

So what do you want others to say about your company? Help put the words in their mouths by designing and working a reputation management plan. After all, reputation is everything to a company.