Give A Damn About Your Bad Reputation

Joan Jett may not give a damn about her bad reputation, but you better.

With so many online resources like search engines, business rating sites, and social media platforms to reference prior to ever meeting someone face-to-face, your reputation enters the room long time before your physical body actually does.

One bad review that tarnishes your reputation as a result of a less than stellar interaction can cost you a lot of business — maybe even your entire business.

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to create and maintain a great reputation, and most of it is just listening to all that stuff your parents told you when you were growing up…

Always do your best
You can’t always guarantee a positive outcome on a project, but you can control the amount of effort you put into the attempt. When you do your best, your customers notice and appreciate it.

Be nice and make friends
People who need help are already feeling uncomfortable. Help ease their self-consciousness by being sympathetic to their situation and letting them know they are in good (patient!) hands. Even more importantly, try making friends before you try to make a sale.

Keep your word
It’s amazing how many businesses do themselves in by their own promises. If you say your service response team will call 30-minutes before a customer appointment, make sure you make the call! Don’t rely on some sort of automated robo-caller. Nobody wants to speak to a bot and there is an 80% chance the system isn’t going to work properly (if at all). Have your team personally call and speak to the customer to let them know they’re on the way.

Have integrity
In every situation, do the right thing. Do the thing your mom would be proud of. This means giving a little more personalized service, going the extra mile. And always, always, always, err on the side of the customer. If there is a discrepancy in price between what you quoted and what they think they owe at the end of the job, that’s not usually an argument you want to win. Because even if you win that extra $50 they disagreed on — it will be the last bit of business you’ll ever win from that client.

Reputation isn’t a difficult thing to manage, but it’s damn important.