So far when we’ve talked about trust, we’ve looked at it from a personal point of view. But how does trust impact your company and its reputation?
Previously we defined trust as “…choosing to make something important to you vulnerable to the actions of someone else.”
How do we define reputation?
Well, let’s say it’s the opinion we’ve built based on what we’ve seen the company do or on the information we’ve read about the company which we then use as a predictor of their behaviour. We use our own personal experience or the experiences of others to form an opinion.
The simplest analogy I can make is with the eBay process. When we make a purchase, we trust the seller to deliver. We make ourselves vulnerable to the seller by risking our money.
When we want to buy a product available from more than one seller, we check each seller’s feedback score (reputation) to see which is highest and therefore most trustworthy.
You could say that reputation is based on trust.
You could also say that reputation is a tool for building more trust.
Your reputation can make or break your company. Take a look at these stats about reputation management:
- 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
- Positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business more
- 60% of consumers say negative reviews turned them away
- 83% of buyers trust recommendations from online users over advertising
- 86% of people would pay more for services from a company with higher ratings and reviews
When you have a good reputation, you stand out from your competitors, attract new customers and continue to improve your reputation.
It all comes back to trust.
A good reputation is built on trust and it’s maintained by adhering to the seven trust elements Brené Brown listed. (Yes, they apply to companies as well as to individuals.)
The better your reputation, the more likely it is that people will trust you.
Now that so much of our business is done online instead of face-to-face, it’s our company reputation which speaks for us.
What is your company reputation saying?
Are you looking for extra support or guidance on how to improve your company’s reputation? Contact me here and together we can create a plan to address your team’s trust issues, and ultimately improve your businesses reputation.
