A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.
Jeff Bezos
How is your brand reputation? Do you know how your clients feel and think about you?
Running a business isn’t easy. It’s hard but it’s even harder to do things well. It’s hard to be and stay client focused. But that is part of what it takes to stand out from the crowd. It’s part of what it takes to make it easier for your ideal clients to choose you.
Brand Touchpoints
Your brand reputation is developed through every interaction with your clients. When they visit your website, see an ad, call for support, receive a proposal, book a call, when talking with you, interacting with employees, visiting your office, receive invoices and the list goes on. Your reputation, your brand is a representation of everything you are, do, show, and say.
They are often called brand touchpoints. These are the points of interaction people have with your business. Creating positive experiences at each touchpoint is what leads to people having a great experience with your brand.
How you craft these touchpoints impacts how clients will or won’t engage with your business, your brand.
This isn’t an easy process and if it was everyone would be doing it. If you’re willing to put in the effort it will help you stand out so it’s easier for your ideal clients to choose you!
Craft An Intentional Brand
If you want to have an intentional impact on your brand reputation then you need to do some work. You need to intentionally choose to craft each interaction so your clients and potential clients have a positive experience. You want every interaction they have with your business to put your business, your brand, in a positive light.
You don’t leave anything to chance. You craft an intentional brand by thinking about how you want your clients to think and feel everything they interact with your business.
Customer Experience
You can’t market your way out of bad client experiences. You have to craft these experiences. And if a client has a bad experience you need to acknowledge it immediately. Don’t try and avoid it. Meet it head-on. Tell them you messed up and that is not the experience you want your clients to have. Then fix things so other clients won’t have a negative experience.
When your clients hire you they’re not looking for a bad experience. They want to love the experience of working with you. They want to tell people how much you helped them. It’s your duty to offer them the best experience they’ve ever had with a business like yours.
What brands do you love and talk about? Do you love and talk about brands that mean something to you?
Who are the clients you want to serve? What do they like, what do they want? You get to craft your brand so it attracts the clients you love to serve. If you’re not getting the clients you love to serve you need to change the experience your clients are having.
Because so few businesses are intentionally crafting amazing customer experiences you’ll be a bright spot in a drab landscape.
Your clients’ experience will have an incredible impact on your brand reputation. They will be more likely to speak positively about you. What can you do to enhance your client’s experiences? What kind of experience would you like to deliver?
Brand Culture
Your company or brand culture also has a huge impact on your brand reputation. If your employees know what your brand stands for they will treat your clients accordingly. Employees that understand the companies purpose will be more engaged, respectful and helpful. They will reflect the essence of your brand.
To help foster a healthy brand culture that reflects the ethos of your brand you’ll need to hire the right people. It helps to hire the right people to ensure they get what your brand stands for. Ensure they connect with your values and beliefs. Then it will be easier for them to represent your brand accurately.
Are you hiring the right people? Do they understand what your brand stands for? If not, what will you do so you can improve the reputation of your brand?
Brand Reputation
In the digital age, your reputation can easily be talked about and shared. There are numerous ways people can leave reviews for businesses. The experiences your clients have will either build a positive or negative reputation. People trust other people’s stories of their experience of your brand. That’s why you’ll want to foster a great reputation by taking care of your clients.
Today fancy slick marketing isn’t enough because what people say matters to you and me. Now people can share their experiences easier than ever. Now smaller businesses can shine when they have a reputation for delivering what their clients want.
It goes beyond delivering results.
Results are expected. What also matters is how clients feel before, during and after doing business with you. Everyone wants to feel like they matter and belong. They want to feel heard, seen, appreciated, understood and that they matter. Are you helping your clients experience these feelings? If not what can you do to improve the situation?
The reputation your brand develops is a reflection of the combined experiences each person has with your business. You can let the chips fall where they will or you can intentionally craft each experience people have with your company.
Conclusion
How do you want people to feel when interacting with your brand? What would you like people to say about your company? What experiences will you need to create for them to say those things about your company? What will you do so they feel like they matter? This is how you create a positive brand reputation.