You know the saying: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”; and equally, it is reasonable to say that, what your customers say about you (especially online) matters, right?
When consumers have something to say, everyone can hear it – everywhere. How good is your social media listening? Are you managing your online reviews? Why are your customers leaving? Can you discern what’s really important for your business?” ~ Cargo Digital
A First Impression Is All About Reputation
Your online reputation is essential and with today’s online review sites being so prevalent, the need for reputation management is crucial!
So, what is your reputation? What are people saying about you?
“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Often overlooked because of its non-tangible life within a business, the long-term reputation of perception is always at play; and perception is never a negotiation, it is always one direction in the marketplace. That direction is from the angle of the consumer.
A First Impression And Subsequent Reputation
First Impression factors are distinct and represent the actual character — or behaviour in many cases — of the company. There have been many examples across the business landscape over the years, and there are some great lessons to learn from others’ mistakes.
“BP [learned] this the hard way. The energy giant [had] striven to portray itself as a responsible corporation that cares about the environment. Its efforts have included its extensive “Beyond Petroleum” advertising campaign and a multibillion-dollar initiative to expand its alternative-energy business. But several major events in the past [few] years are now causing the public to question whether BP is truly so exceptional.” ~ Harvard Business Review February 2007
First Impression And The 4-Truths Of A World-Class Reputation
1. Business Rationale: Building and protecting corporate reputation has a direct business impact.
2. Strategy Informed by Intelligence: Most firms do not need more data; they need better intelligence from the data they get.
3. Management and Accountability: You can’t manage reputation from a corporate silo. Reputation and support are driven on a day-to-day basis by the actions and communications from people across the organization.
4 Activation: Building trust and support are done across three influencer channels: a) what people experience directly with your company, b) what you say through your marcoms, and c) what other people say about you.
Let’s talk about your reputation and how you are making a first impression. You can contact me directly here.
So you see, email is not dead – far from it. We are so fixated on writing the perfect message that we often forget about our signatures — they too can influence interactions, sometimes in a subtle way.