Technical triumph

It's always a busy time of year but as always we've met the deadlines and our clients' award entries have been signed, sealed and delivered - for now at least!

We'll have to wait until the end of the summer before all the results are announced but we already have one victory under our belt….. Our materials handling client was the worthy winner of a national United Kingdom Warehousing Association Award this month. A technical triumph for all those involved!

10 rules of reputation management

“O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.”

Now we’re not sure we agree with Shakespeare’s Cassio when it comes to bestiality, but he has a fair point when he talks about the ‘immortal part’ of himself. When reputation’s gone, it’s gone – as Gerald Ratner knows only too well.

In business, reputation can mean the difference between success and failure, profit and loss, work or the dole queue.

So, how do you keep hold of what you have – and how can you enhance it?

Here are what we believe to be the top ten rules of reputation management…

1. Tell the truth. You don’t want to be known as a liar. Customers will disappear – and will also talk negatively about you to other customers and potential customers. Your workforce will never trust you again – and that’s not good for motivation or, indeed, for staff retention. And as for journalists… well, the hope will be that they never mention you again, but the likelihood is that you will be publically lambasted and news of your deceit will be spread far and wide. Not good, not good at all.

2. Build up goodwill (a.k.a. making allies in peace time). All reputations are vulnerable, but if you have spent time and effort in building yours up during the good times, the more chance you have of surviving the bad.

3. Deliver on your promises. The easiest way to build and keep a good reputation is to ensure that you deliver what you promise – be that a product or service of consistently high quality; training and career development opportunities for staff or even getting back to a journalist when you say you will.

4. Talk to people. If there’s one thing worse than knowing, it’s the not knowing. People don’t like to be left in the dark and they hate surprises – especially in business. If there is an issue that is affecting or about to affect your operation, talk to the relevant parties. The workforce is more likely to be onside if it knows the scope of the issue and what needs to be done; customers will appreciate being kept up to speed so they can take action within their own business to alleviate any consequences.

Of course, the above should be the principles of any business. But there will be times when things within or outside your control have an adverse impact on your activity. These are the times when your reputation is really on the line. Curiously, these times also provide opportunities to enhance your reputation.

Business guru John Nicholls says a crisis gives a business the chance to shine. “If I have two suppliers that are as good as each other, and one supplier has an issue with deliveries that it overcomes successfully and with the minimum of fuss, I would be more impressed than I am with its competitor, who has not yet had a problem,” he says.

So, are you ready for the crisis that will inevitably happen and threaten your reputation?

5. Plan for the worst. It’s easy to turn a minor crisis into a major disaster if you don’t know how to handle it. Look at every area of your operation, ask what could happen that would be damaging to your reputation, then develop a plan to help you address that issue. To get you started, here are some of the crises we’ve handled over the last few years. How many could apply to your business?

• Redundancies

• Site closures / transfer of operations

• Road accidents / deaths and consequent prosecutions

• Site accidents and consequent prosecutions

• Racism

• Theft of stock / security issues

• Loss of customers

• Illegal immigration

• Communicable diseases / management communication

• Customer service issues

• False performance claims

• Subcontractor issues

• Trade union issues

• Business performance issues

• Organisational change

• Product recalls

• Staff assaults

6. Test, rehearse, revise and review. Test every area of your crisis plan thoroughly. Make sure everyone knows their role and is comfortable with putting the plan into practice. Keep revising the plan until you are confident that it will work. Review and update the plan as frequently as is sensible, but never less than annually.

7. Know your messages. Agree key messages and stick to them. Ensure that everybody knows them and be certain that they are in every communication with the outside world.

8. Get buy-in from the top. Somebody in your business has to be in charge of the crisis plan and they have to be recognised and accepted as such from the outset. If your managing director is unhappy to follow your lead, the worst time to find out is when the company’s reputation is on the line. Senior management must buy into the plan from the outset – and their commitment must be open and obvious.

9. Select and train your spokespeople. Pick two or three reliable and senior people within the business to talk on behalf of the organisation; then train them to make sure they are confident in talking to the media – whether that be over the phone, face to face, down a microphone or on camera.

10. Know your limitations. If you are not an expert in reputation management, or if you don’t have the time to devote to the development of a plan, hire somebody who can help. You would not entrust the company's legal or financial affairs to a well-meaning amateur. A damaged reputation will kill a company faster than any court battle or financial crisis.

By the way, following Othello’s suicide, Cassio ended up becoming Governor of Cyprus – which just goes to show that things can still turn around, no matter how desperate they may look.