Being an expert is honorable and useful. Experts find jobs and clients more easily, their opinions are listened to, and they are paid more. Every second would like to become an expert, and every fourth believes that this is almost impossible without completing expensive programs and working in large corporations.
And an expert is not such a rare bird. We live in a world where anyone can become an expert. Because many, without realizing it, are experts in one field or another. And for this they have everything - the necessary knowledge and experience.
But why don't we know these people? Because only a person who is a brand receives the title of expert. And a brand, as you know, needs to be created. Below are some tips on how to create a name for yourself as an expert.
1. Write every day
Get yourself accounts on those social networks where the lion's share of your target audience is located. These can be regular social networks like Facebook, or professional ones like LinkedIn. You should be found wherever potential employers and clients are. And not only to find, but also to see: you need to publish at least one post every day. At the same time, the publication must correspond to the format of a particular social network and your topic. Of course, in addition to posts on professional topics, you can also write something personal and joke. But it is very important to maintain balance here.
2. Don't hide
The time of anonymous writers is over. Now a person’s name is highly valued, and this name should be heard. Of course, not everyone is lucky enough to start a career as an expert, being a popular TV presenter, but any person has every chance to glorify himself, provided that he:
- introduce himself;
– will share high-quality materials with the audience;
– will prove himself to be an excellent expert.
3. Create an information flow
At least once a week, publish information that will be important to a large number of people. Examples of such information:
– reviews of new programs, gadgets (if relevant for your industry);
– instructions, useful recommendations and lists;
– e-books useful for your field of activity, or reviews of them;
– useful videos or podcasts;
– the most important world news (depending on your topic) and your comments on them;
Information must be relevant, high-quality and verified. The more it meets these three criteria, the faster you will be perceived as an expert and trustworthy source.
4. Columnism is your everything
Being a guest author on a popular resource automatically adds points to you. Fortunately, it is now quite easy to start writing a column on various online media sites. Don't look at being a columnist as a waste of time - you're spending it on your brand. On the contrary: if the resource is popular, even more people will see you who would otherwise never know about you. Whenever possible, choose specialized resources that are relevant to your field of activity.
5. Share unique information
Only experts can generate unique, high-quality content. Therefore, you simply must generate it. An analytical article, a review, a detailed commentary, an action plan - not everyone can write such things efficiently.
But in any case, you can always start with something simple. For example, expert material can even be a translation of an English-language article. But it must be a truly complex and deep article on a highly specialized topic that readers will be interested in reading. There is another advantage to translations - you learn a lot of new things and develop.
6. Communicate as much as possible
Experts have long been not oracles telling the truth, but people who constantly gain their authority in discussions and disputes. Social networks ensure that active communication with subscribers occurs casually and at a convenient time, so you can communicate much more than you could afford in real life. Therefore, answer questions, discuss, argue. And - what is very important - be correct. Arguments that end in personalities will not build your reputation.
Also follow experts who work in your field. Check in with them in the comments under their materials and discuss with them if you have something to say. You will not only prove yourself, but also gain valuable contacts.
7. Go to public speaking events
Follow the schedule of conferences, round tables, exhibitions, events in various coworking spaces that relate to your area and participate in them as a speaker. This is the best way to find new employers, clients and present yourself as an expert. Think carefully about what to say and about what - you need to be remembered, and it should be a vivid and relevant topic.
8. Don’t neglect working on yourself
Even if you don’t have time to actively manage your social media account or blog, still try to organize your time so as not to give up working on your brand for good. For example, make publications that take up the most resources rarer and reduce their volume. It is therefore important to warn the audience that you will write less, but do not quit for good.
The main thing is not only maintaining the audience, but also understanding that working on your own brand is also working on yourself. For your publications, you should monitor all market news and analyze it to understand where things are heading in your field. This will give you an invaluable advantage over others, and therefore make you more valuable in every sense.
A successful career, a successful business, sports cars, a villa in Mallorca, a Swiss bank account, a good girlfriend and a happy life begin with a reputation. A good reputation opens doors that lead to a prosperous and successful life.
“A good reputation is more important than a clean shirt. A shirt can be washed, but a reputation never.” Alfred Nobel
The man's reputation. Woman's reputation. This is not usually talked about, but it is important. Reputation is a fixed opinion about a person. What is yours?
In the modern world, people often forget about such an important thing as reputation. They engage in unseemly activities, sully their honor, get involved in dubious stories, hang out with all sorts of rabble, and appear in a negative light. And then we want to succeed and demand due respect when it’s too late.
Honor, dignity and reputation influence your life much more than you might think. People with a bad reputation are not hired, business is not done with them, they are not respected and are avoided in every possible way. How to create and maintain your own brand called “reputation”? How to maintain your reputation? How to restore your reputation? It's all about reputation.
1. Don't get into trouble
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to destroy it. You will approach things differently if you think about it. Warren Buffett
In any situation, maintain restraint and reason. Don't get involved in questionable things, don't get drunk, don't get into fights, don't break the law. A cool head and dignity will save you from many problems in the future. Why do you need problems with the authorities and the law? Why would you want to be seen doing something obscene? Develop the habit of always keeping yourself on top, your reputation will only benefit from this.
2. Watch your language
While leaving a certain impression about yourself, you should not forget that tomorrow they can develop into a reputation. Negative thinking, negative statements and gossip will not bring anything good in the long run. If a person carries negativity within himself, this will quickly affect his reputation. Try not to lie. If this is revealed, your reputation will look pathetic.
3. Maintain your virtual reputation
The Internet and social networks are too tightly woven into our lives. Many companies secretly search for profiles of their future employees and draw certain conclusions. Girls and boys are looking for profiles of their new halves. Acquaintances, friends and companions are watching you via the Internet. Clean up your profile. Why do you need photos from drunk parties? No one needs to know that you violated point 1, and behave with dignity in the future. No need for stupid statuses, quotes, videos and other childish nonsense. A page on a social network is your face.
4. Don't hang around with trash
“If you value your own reputation, deal only with men of worthy qualities.” George Washington
The ancient Greek playwright Euripides wrote: “Tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are.” Alcoholics, drug addicts, gopniks, girls of easy virtue, lawbreakers. One can endlessly list the people with whom normal society prefers not to associate. Why be noticed in a company where you don't belong? Remember your reputation. Make friends and communicate only with those who are worthy. Stay close to successful people if you want to succeed.
5. Watch your appearance
To have a million dollars you need to look like a million dollars! An unkempt appearance or cheap, tasteless clothes will tear your image to shreds. Only poor people and losers look like that. People who dress well and are stylish always get points for this. They are more attractive to others, they want to be friends and do business with them. Take care of your appearance or you can forget about the reputation of a successful person.
6. Behave with dignity
Respect yourself and others if they deserve it. Be friendly, keep your word, be tactful, don’t be late, control your emotions. Maintain your dignity in any situation.
7. Protect your reputation
Always protect your honor, dignity and your reputation. Try to “deal” with those people who are trying to undermine your image and reputation. One good friend of mine said: “To restore your reputation, sometimes it’s enough to punch a turnip.” Reputation can also be protected in court.
A successful career, a successful business, sports cars, a villa in Mallorca, a Swiss bank account, a good girlfriend and a happy life begin with a reputation. First you work for your reputation, then it works for you.
"Head of a budget organization", 2010, N 2
We are already accustomed to the fact that it is mainly large companies operating in highly competitive markets that think about creating a positive reputation in our country. However, reputation is also important for budgetary organizations, especially for those that provide services to the population. How can you build and maintain a business reputation? And most importantly, how not to lose in one moment what has been built up over the years?
Henry Ford warned executives: “If you don’t take care of your company’s reputation, your competitors will.” These words can easily be attributed to the activities of not only commercial structures, but also budgetary institutions, because many of them today work in a competitive environment in the fields of education, medicine, and culture. And this competition is growing every year, and with it the role of business reputation.
According to American experts, the share of reputation in the total market value of a company ranges from 15 to 25% (in some cases reaching 75%). In Russia, according to reputation management consultant Alexey Zlovedov, this share is on average 50%.
According to Harvard Business School, over an 11-year period (1993 to 2004), companies around the world that focused on their reputation increased revenue by 682%, profit by 756%, and headcount by 282. %. At the same time, companies that did not pay special attention to reputation issues showed results of 166%, 1% and 36%, respectively. World practice shows that organizations that seriously work on building a reputation become leaders in their field.
Creating a reputation
First, let’s define what an organization’s reputation is and how it differs from its image.
Compared to reputation, image is the image that an organization strives to create in its environment. And if a reputation is formed over the years and involves the deepest emotions of people, then the image is a certain external impression of the organization, how it appears here and now.
Note. Business reputation is a set of opinions about the organization of representatives of interested parties who are associated with it (employees, consumers, government officials, media, etc.).
It is obvious that the formation of a reputation is a longer process compared to the creation of an image, and it affects all levels of the organization and all its employees - from the director to the courier.
First of all, the manager should entrust the formation of a reputation program to professionals. Depending on the level of development of the organization, this may be one PR specialist or several specialists united in some structure, for example, in a public relations department. Of course, you can attract specialists from an independent agency and even agree on subscription services. But practice shows that this form of work does not guarantee confidentiality, and some documents may end up not only in the hands of competitors, but also on Internet sites.
1. Clear goal setting: what kind of reputation and for which groups we want to form.
Agree that you cannot become the best at everything. Therefore, it is important to highlight a priority area for the organization and be able to express the desired reputation in a few words. For example: a reliable organization (consumers believe that it strives to fulfill all obligations to them), a prestigious university (it has the largest competitions compared to other universities, graduates quickly get jobs in their specialty).
2. Identify the “bottlenecks” of the organization that prevent the achievement of the desired reputation.
Suppose a budget institution wants to create a reputation among its clients as an organization where all issues are promptly resolved. In this case, the analysis should be aimed primarily at identifying customer interaction procedures that need to be accelerated. In budget structures, this primarily concerns the timing of consideration of various documents. If consumers are confident that the organization approves all requests without delay, its reputation will be significantly strengthened.
3. Decide how to overcome bottlenecks and eliminate them.
We have a simple management task ahead of us. If your goal is to speed up the procedure for approving documents, it is worth analyzing at what stage and why they get stuck, and how you can motivate (or punish) the employee (or department) where the delay occurs. It is important to draw up an action plan to eliminate bottlenecks and implement it.
4. Create a precedent.
When the ground is prepared and the main problems preventing the creation of the desired reputation have been eliminated, it’s time to think about a bright event and worthy coverage of it among interested groups.
If we return to our example with the reputation of a company that makes quick decisions, then in this case such a precedent can be created. Previously, approval procedures took you a whole month, but with the help of the created “single window” system, you reduced this period to 10 days. And even when the client needed to quickly resolve some complex issue, your employees made every effort, but met the deadline, surprising him beyond words. And then we need to make sure that as many people as possible learn about this event through the media.
We maintain our reputation
Creating a good reputation is only half the battle. It is much more difficult to preserve it. An ill-considered action by management or even an ordinary employee can instantly ruin what specialists have been working on for years. The fly in the ointment can be the rash statements of the company's top (or public) officials. It is especially bad if the behavior or words of a public person diverge from the stated postulates. Unfulfilled promises to clients also cause irreparable harm to reputation, especially if they are accompanied by rude attacks from staff. Attempts to change the rules during the game often turn against the organization. For example, visitors expect certain behavior from your employees and do not realize that priorities have shifted slightly, and in the end they simply cease to understand what is happening.
Incorrect actions in relation to those people who have access to mass audiences and are capable of ruining the company’s reputation (journalists, politicians, etc.) can become especially dangerous. Therefore, you should think seriously before refusing to comment to any reputable media outlet.
There can be no trifles in the business of reputation management. But the values that play a significant role in its maintenance deserve special attention.
History of the company. You are lucky if your organization has an interesting history going back centuries. These are the stories that the oldest theaters, museums, and higher educational institutions can boast of. They have something to tell the public about themselves, and this story can be exploited for a long time (in a positive sense), inventing new, modern forms. For example, how can you introduce modern youth to a museum if you can’t lure them there? Create a virtual museum with interactive features and an online tour.
But even if there was nothing unusual in history at first glance, you need to find at least a few interesting facts and, based on them, write history anew, filling it with bright events and achievements. And then make this story public, draw attention to it with the help of interesting publications in the media. A reputation that is not based on anything is not convincing. A rich history shows that the organization has earned its reputation: it worked hard, quickly rebuilt in response to changing conditions, experienced ups and downs, and showed resistance to negative influences, that is, its success is natural.
Reputation of top officials. Nothing can be done, but the reputation of the top officials is projected onto the reputation of the entire organization. This rule is true even for a huge multi-thousand company (remember the examples of Anatoly Chubais or Evgeny Chichvarkin), not to mention a small office whose director is its “face”. Therefore, while caring about the reputation of his company, a manager must first of all take care of his own reputation. An organization will not develop a reputation for reliability if its leader is constantly late for meetings with clients, “forgets” about agreements, and makes scandalous statements in the press. So the manager should begin the process of building a reputation not with the staff, but with himself.
Meeting expectations. What matters most to customers is what it makes sense to focus on. If the main thing for a strategic client is reliability, then all efforts should be directed towards this. If service is more important, then every effort should be made to ensure that customers say: “They have the best service.” If quality: “They care so much about the quality of services that they are ready to return money to anyone who is not satisfied with it.” That is, it is important to accurately determine the leading need of a strategic client and concentrate all efforts on its implementation.
Compliance of cases with stated policies. When consciously forming and maintaining a reputation, one cannot do without creating an information policy - a special document that clearly states the description of the reputation that should be formed among various target audiences. In addition, the document indicates the mechanisms that work to form such a reputation. For example, the organization claims that it is reliable, and in support of this it publishes an annual review, which shows that during the year there was not a single refusal to review documents. Such an organization is trusted more, because its words do not differ from its deeds.
Concentration of effort. It is much more profitable to concentrate efforts on one thing, and then it will inevitably “take off”, and simply maintain everything else at a positive level.
So, When managing the reputation of an organization, it is important to remember this rule: what is different is remembered. In our case, it is different from all other companies and organizations. Market players with a strong reputation are always “the best.” They say about them: they have the newest developments, they employ the best specialists, they have the best laboratory... This is what we should strive for!
It cannot be bought with money. Cannot be exchanged by barter. You can't get it using clever schemes. She is the key that opens many doors. Why is reputation so important for a business person? Do all employees need it? What does it consist of? How hard is it to earn it? And is it easy to destroy?
With a joker in your hands
The rule that any journalist knows: first you work for the name, then the name works for you. The same principle can guide any specialist in almost any business. Building a reputation takes years of hard work. But the result is worth it.
As a rule, the opinions of other people are the only information about a person that does not require verification. Therefore, it is reputation that employers and clients tend to trust, and it is reputation that opens the way to a successful career continuation. “Business reputation is the “added value” of a professional in the labor market, earning which he receives a number of privileges,” says Anna Prostomolotova, leading public relations manager at the Beagle recruiting company.
“There are examples of cases,” says expert Maria Silina, head of the “Personnel Recruitment for the FMCG Market” department, “Agency Contact”, “when people have achieved such fame that they are known not only in the companies where they worked before , but also throughout the entire market."
Reputation in the hands of a business person is like a joker in a combination of skills, knowledge and experience. Such an employee has the opportunity to “break the bank.”
Who needs it?
There is a widespread belief that reputation is important mainly for directors, because they are most often in the spotlight. Their decisions have far-reaching consequences. Any success or failure of a leading executive causes widespread resonance. “Such extra cases can be both positive and negative, and, as a rule, this happens to people occupying top positions,” confirms Maria Silina.
Does this mean that professional reputation is not important for line employees? “Business reputation is also necessary for those employees who do not interact with external audiences. An employee who has the image of a professional in his field can be recommended to recruiters, and the chances that he will be lured to a position with more interesting conditions increase significantly,” says Anna Prostomolotova.
It is known, for example, that the reputation of a good proofreader spreads among potential employers through word of mouth. So even in the most modest position you can and should build a reputation.
Philosopher's Stone Recipe
How to create a reputation? Are there any rules here? What is required to enjoy the fame of a “golden” employee? “To create a business reputation, the following factors are necessary: high professionalism, strong personal qualities, the ability to present oneself,” says Anna Prostomolotova.
Maria Silina also believes that professionalism is the key to a good reputation: “A person is glorified by his pronounced professional results.” The expert gave an example: “One of the candidates with whom we worked earlier came to a top position in a small Western company at a stage of its existence when it still occupied a very small share in the Russian market. At that time, our country had favorable economic conditions for business development, and many companies managed to achieve good results in their work. However, it was thanks to this man that his company took a leading position in its market within a few years. This man had an incredibly positive business reputation, thanks to which after some time he was offered a job in another company on significantly more favorable terms for him.”
As you know, professional achievements are based on hard work and determination. To be in good standing, you must perform your job duties efficiently. You need to work year after year, because one of the most important components of reputation is professional experience. Even if you are not a top manager, you can make a name for yourself as an experienced and impeccable employee with all the ensuing consequences.
But personal qualities are no less important. To maintain a reputation, a professional must manage his character, and never vice versa. “There is a main rule - under no circumstances should you enter into conflict with your colleagues, especially with management. The importance of the system of relationships in a work team should not be underestimated. Everyone has conflict situations. Often we ourselves are not the initiators. When faced with such a problem, you should try to minimize the consequences and find a compromise. We should never forget about the need to comply with the rules of business ethics, even if leaving the company is not entirely smooth,” advises Maria Silina.
One of the recipes for a good reputation is respect for yourself and others. One of the subway foremen (by the way, a strong-willed, rude and unceremonious woman) took a dislike to the cashiers of one of the stations. In their reports, she looked for and found a huge number of small errors, which are almost inevitable in their work, wrote denunciations to her superiors and called the station a “disgrace.” Many employees could not stand her reprimands and quit. But the senior cashier, although she was a temperamental woman, behaved with dignity and did not respond to the foreman’s attacks with either servility or rudeness. By this she ensured that the station chief often, albeit verbally, took her side in conflicts. Soon, despite the efforts of the foreman, the station was recognized as exemplary.
The skill of presenting yourself lies in the ability to adapt to the situation. What is called “impression management” in the USA is the ability to make the right impression on different people. Naturally, each profession has its own requirements for appearance, behavior, character, etc. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the importance of the first impression: “To gain the audience’s favor and form an opinion of oneself as a professional, it takes time, and, neglecting the first impression, it’s quite difficult to rehabilitate yourself in the eyes of the audience,” says Anna Prostomolotova. For example, the indicator of a professional who works with calculations is logical judgment and a neat appearance. If these conditions are met, for example, an accountant and, contrary to stereotypes, a programmer have a chance of a successful interview, even if he works from home. An account manager, who spends most of his time interacting with people, is expected to be sociable and have a positive attitude. These requirements are often specifically stipulated in the requirements for applicants.
It's easier to destroy than to create
We can talk for a long time about how to ruin a reputation. But is it worth it? There are a lot of ways, and humanity is constantly inventing new ones. Donald Trump said that a reputation can take twenty years to earn and be lost in five minutes. “Business reputation takes years to earn, but it only takes one wrong step to ruin it, and there are a huge number of options. It is enough to lose sight of one of its components and the whole picture will be lost,” agrees Anna Prostomolova.
The main thing to remember is that not everything that is allowed in your free time is welcome at work. The professional sphere is merciless towards those who project their shortcomings onto it. For example, if an employee likes to drink or shows unhealthy attention to the opposite sex, management may not care. But if something like this happens in the office, then even the big boss can’t get away with such antics.
Often, it is the management that bears increased responsibility. Therefore, a leader must be especially attentive to his behavior. Anna Prostomolotova speaks about this: “There are many cases (mostly we are talking about small organizations) when the entire PR of a company is built on the image of its first person, and the manager spends most of his efforts on creating it. Of course, this attracts customers, but among them there are also those who want to find out what really stands behind the big words. Therefore, business reputation must always be confirmed by deep personal expertise and professional experience - without this, the “soap bubble” bursts, disappointment and loss of trust occur.”
Social networks pose some danger. It is no coincidence that there are many tips on the Internet on how to ruin your reputation on Twitter, Facebook, etc. If your page can be viewed by your boss, colleagues or clients, then it is better to think several times before posting reprehensible photos or using offensive language. Even if your behavior does not affect your work, the impression can be spoiled for a long time.
The purest reputation can be sullied once and for all. You can't leave a job where they don't know you well in order to start your career with a clean slate. “All self-respecting employers are sure to check references for their candidates, and this will not necessarily be a conversation with exactly the person whom the candidate indicated as a recommender. The market is not as big as it might seem, and it is quite possible that the potential manager knows someone very well from the candidate’s previous place of work,” warns Maria Silina. It follows from this that it is better to protect honor, including professional honor, from a young age!
Vladimir Kosykh, managing partner of the PR agency InMar Relations
When and why is a reputation needed?
There is a fairly widespread belief among the owners and top managers of domestic companies that in Russia, due to the “specific” conditions of doing business, it is at least useless to deal with reputation. And taking into account the fact that the money spent on reputation could be used more effectively to finance other areas of business, it is even harmful.
Along with the objective reasons for this attitude towards reputation, there is the instability of the business and political environment (and, as a consequence, the complexity of long-term planning); high level of corruption (on many issues it is easier to “agree”), etc.
There is also a subjective reason - everyone seems to know about reputation, everyone seems to understand what it is, but at the same time few can briefly and clearly formulate what reputation is and what REAL benefits it can bring to a business.
But at the same time, many enterprises had to face some of the problems listed below:
* In the event of a crisis situation: an accident at an enterprise (especially with human casualties and/or environmental pollution); production failure (with subsequent problems with product quality); dissemination of negative information in the media, etc. - sales volumes drop sharply, doing business becomes more difficult due to an increase in the number of various checks, relations with suppliers and dealers deteriorate (even to the point of termination).
* High staff turnover and the need to regularly increase wages in order to retain employees.
* Consumers immediately believe any negative information about the company and its products, but treat positive information with distrust.
* Dealers are distrustful of suppliers, believing that the supplier company is not interested in long-term relationships. And as a result, they do not want to develop any exclusive forms of cooperation.
And hardly anyone will argue with the fact that a company that “knows how” to reduce the costs of solving the problems described above and a number of similar ones will gain an advantage in the competition, its business will be more stable and profitable. Even in the conditions of unstable Russian reality.
From the title it is clear that all these problems will be further proposed to be solved by working with reputation. But before suggesting how to manage reputation, a definition that is easy to work with will be proposed and an approach to assessing the benefits of reputation for business will be described.
Without a clear understanding (at all levels of management) of what reputation is, what its benefits are for the enterprise, and methods for assessing reputation, one can only imitate vigorous activity, but not manage reputation.
But before you can measure (and manage) reputation, you need to understand the confusion around measuring the effectiveness of corporate communications.
Business Communications Groups
Many works on assessing the effectiveness of PR activities immediately try to answer the questions “what to evaluate” and “how to evaluate.” In my opinion, it will not be possible to answer these questions in general until the questions “what are the benefits of PR activities for the company’s business activities” and “how to separate the effect of PR from other types of business communications” have been worked out.
To make it easier to separate the effects of PR from other communications, it is proposed not to separate one from the other, but, on the contrary, for convenience, “mix” them, dividing business communications into groups not by type of communication, but by the effects that communications have:
* Sales support. Communications of this group “work” by influencing such communication indicators as popularity, awareness of the product/brand/company, and the desire to make a purchase during the promotion.
* Strategic Communications. Communications of this group “work” by influencing the information background of the company’s business: perception of the product/brand/company (positioning, image, brand promise), stereotypes/beliefs, fashion.
* Building trust. Communication indicators such as reputation and relationship building are responsible for trust in a business.
To achieve objectives belonging to different groups, the same communication channels can be used (regardless of the traditional classification of channels). With this division, sales support is the responsibility of the marketing department, building trust is the responsibility of the PR department, and strategic communications are the joint responsibility of these two departments.
Strategic communications solve sales problems only indirectly; they are usually aimed at maintaining the long-term success of the business. For example, to maintain consumer loyalty, to create a fashion for a healthy lifestyle (for a chain of fitness centers) or to highlight the sexuality of women’s smoking (for a cigarette manufacturer). The study of brand perception, positioning, and stereotypes has been sufficiently developed in branding and strategic marketing, and to evaluate effectiveness, these indicators must be “linked” to the dynamics of market share over a long period.
But with the “Building Trust” group, difficulties begin. It is clear that a good reputation and established relationships somehow contribute to successful business. But, unlike the other two groups of business communications, it is not entirely clear how to measure reputation and “good” relationships and what exactly these indicators influence in business.
There is excellent work on relationship assessment by Linda Childers Hohn and James Groening. Therefore, only the approach to assessing the reputational component of trust communications is described below.
What is reputation
There are hardly many fewer definitions of the term “reputation” than “marketing”, “public relations”, etc. This work proposes, without extensive justification, to adopt a definition convenient for subsequent work:
Reputation is a forecast by the target audience of the behavior of a company/person based on available information, experience, impressions and perceptions of the target audience.
Or in other words, this is an assessment of FUTURE “health” and behavior based on information about the PAST, i.e. a forecast, “predictability” of the company’s behavior in a positive or negative sense, whether it is worth dealing with it in the future. If the consumer needs the product only “for now” and the relationship will not be continued in the future, then the product will be selected only on the basis of price, perception of other characteristics of the product and attitude towards the brand, we are not talking about reputation.
To put it simply, a synonym for reputation is predictability, in contrast to image - impression (perception).
In this interpretation, reputation is precisely the behavioral assessment of the subject. For example, I buy a gadget secondhand that is not officially sold in Russia. I am aware that if it fails, I will neither be able to return it nor receive branded service. In this situation, the company's reputation does not concern me. I choose only based on the characteristics of the product. Moreover, the characteristics are not necessarily physical, they may well be status, fashionability, etc. And, thanks to the brand, these characteristics can be not only real (which I know for sure), but also expected (which I assume for a product of this brand) .
But if, after making a purchase, the consumer has to continue interaction with the manufacturer (service, exchange, return, etc.), then the consumer will also take into account the reputation of the manufacturer in his choice. How will the manufacturer behave in different situations? Will it be on the market at all or will it close after some time, and the consumer will be left without spare parts and service? What will be the dynamics of the service? And the more important this “behavioral” component of product quality is, the more important the reputation of the enterprise’s business is for the buyer.
It is necessary to understand that reputation is an assessment of future behavior, but it is not made only on the basis of the past behavior of the person being assessed, as is commonly believed. When forecasting, almost any information about the subject and experience of interaction with him is used: his past behavior (based on personal experience and assessments of others, in particular assessments of the media), what and how he says, what he looks like, what is the quality and prices of his products, etc. P.
Groups of reputation effects
Well, if we take the proposed definition of reputation as a basis, then the influence of reputation on business can be divided into two groups of effects:
* Attributive effects - the influence of reputation on competitiveness as one of the product characteristics. Products/services of a company with a good reputation are more competitive (they sell better).
* Cognitive effects - the influence of reputation on the processing of new information about the company. The target audience perceives new information about the company with greater confidence if this information corresponds to the established reputation.
Due to the cognitive effects, a company with a good reputation requires less effort to convince the target audience of the reliability of positive information (corresponding to reputation), and losses in the event of negative information (contradictory to reputation) will be less. The target audience will simply not believe in the reliability of the negative information or will treat the situation with understanding, “inventing” a reason why negative news can be left without consequences. In contrast to a negative reputation, when target audiences can not only believe, but also invent everything that they consider possible and “fit” into a negative situation.
For example, if the target audience (without additional negative news) is sure that mobile operator X is stealing money from its subscribers, then any new negative information on this topic will be perceived as reliable. And it can increase subscriber churn. And if subscribers are confident in the honesty of the mobile operator, then the target audience will perceive negative information about the theft of money either as unreliable, or interpret it as an isolated mistake and/or as the machinations of competitors.
Or if the reputation of the authorities is such that the target audience is confident in the authorities’ readiness to falsify elections, then any information (even the most unreliable) about falsification will be perceived and disseminated by the target audience as reliable, and all facts confirming the fairness of the elections will be dismissed as lies.
Attribute component assessment
To assess the attributive component of reputation, you “only” need to evaluate what contribution the reputation of a brand/company makes to the choice of a product, all other things being equal, for example, with absolutely equal product parameters, which brand the consumer will choose. The greater this component, the better the reputation.
The attributive component of reputation must be assessed as a percentage (comparing competitiveness), and then converted into money, discounting financial flows. But it must be remembered that reputation is not only sales, but also a “valuable fur” of non-marketing advantages of a business: lower costs for attracting and retaining personnel, cheaper credit resources, etc. factors that also need to be taken into account when assessing the benefits of reputation . All these “additional” factors also need to be converted into money, assessed at least at the expert level.
To evaluate such effects, you can take technologies from “related” areas as a basis: assessing competitiveness, developing a model of consumer choice, branding, etc. In my opinion, conjoint analysis technologies, the Saaty hierarchy analysis method, and the Kano method are suitable for this. and so on.
Assessment of the cognitive component
The cognitive component is more difficult. Firstly, companies often do not even realize this benefit of reputation for business. Because of this, the importance of reputation for business can be “underestimated.” Secondly, it follows from the definition that each time to assess reputation it is necessary to disseminate positive or negative information and evaluate the reaction of the target audience. The better the reputation, the lower the losses (including financial ones) from negative information and crises and the higher the positive effect from good news (or, at least, the lower the costs of convincing them of their reliability).
The only problem with the procedure for assessing the effect of positive information is that the assessment requires serious, significant events that do not happen very often. And to assess the effect, it is necessary to “adjust” such news to the time of the assessment. I would like to generally reduce the amount of negative information and crises to a minimum, and I certainly don’t want to create a crisis on my own in order to assess how ready the company’s reputation is for it.
In order not to “link” the reputation assessment to events (which occur irregularly), it is proposed to track changes in reputation based on calculations of the company’s likely financial position in the event of various positive and negative events occurring. And the data for calculations are surveys and expert assessments.
For negative events, it is necessary to determine the most likely threats (crisis situations), possible losses and what these losses depend on, on the actions of which groups of people (stakeholders). After this, you need to make a forecast of the behavior of these stakeholders in different types of crisis. What percentage of stakeholders will believe this or that negative information and how will they behave? Will they continue to cooperate with the company (will the terms of cooperation change) or not? By tracking the dynamics of probable behavior when threats are implemented, we can draw a conclusion about the quality of work to strengthen reputation. The lower the percentage of those who are inclined to change their behavior to negative ones, the better the reputation.
For positive events, a list of probable (and expected in the near future) events, their impact on the company, and influence groups (stakeholders) are similarly determined. And based on expert assessments and stakeholder surveys, a forecast is made of their impact on changes in the company’s financial position in the event of the implementation of expected events. The general formula for assessing the impact of positive and negative events is as follows: EVENT IMPACT = EVENT PROBABILITY * PERCENTAGE OF CHANGE * AUDIENCE CONTRIBUTION.
PROBABILITY of an event- probability of this event occurring .
PERCENTAGE change- by what percentage will conditions change if this event occurs. If this is sales, then what percentage of consumers involved in the crisis will refuse the company's products. Or vice versa, how many new consumers will be attracted by positive information. If a bank loan, then by what percentage will its conditions worsen/improve for the company, etc.
Audience CONTRIBUTION- contribution made by the audience to the company’s financial flow before the event . In addition to the actual sales volumes, it is necessary to take into account the cost of access to various resources (financial, labor, administrative, etc.).
And to estimate the total size of possible changes, you need to sum up the changes from all events.
In fact, the real formula is more complicated, because for each threat in the sum it is necessary to take into account that the percentage of change and contribution for each audience will be different, i.e. for the i-th event the sum of products for the j-th audience appears. But there are more humanists in PR. This is probably why in the first version of the formula even the sign of the sum (Σ) caused difficulties. As a result, the formula is made as simple as possible. It is enough to understand the general idea, and those who see that the formula is missing components are well done, but in this case they are quite capable of coming up with the missing components themselves.
And you also need to understand that this is a formula specifically for the first event. After the event, not only the financial flow changes, but also the reputational capital. And the reaction to each subsequent event will be determined by the reputational capital stroke (taking into account the changes made by the previous event).
The proposed approach, in addition to the actual ability to evaluate reputation in money, is also useful in that it makes the development of measures to strengthen reputation more methodical and with clear benefits for business. Below are not even examples, but rather a very general plan for such work.
Development Sequence
The sequence of developing a reputation strategy according to the proposed scheme is as follows:
1. Identify groups of possible events that affect the company’s activities. For example:
* Production.
* Public organizations.
* Top management and owners.
* Residents of the territories where the enterprise’s industrial sites are located.
* Staff.
* Partners, suppliers, etc.
* Etc. (the groups above are given only as an example; event groups are individual for each business).
2. For each group of events, develop a list of the most likely (and most significant for business) events. For example, for some groups the events may be as follows:
* Problems in production: accidents, equipment malfunctions, release of a low-quality batch of goods onto the market, etc.
* Positive changes in production: new equipment/technology, introduction of new capacities (in principle, these events can be considered positive, but if the reputation is bad, then these events can be interpreted as negative, there were examples in practice).
* Top management: changes in the composition of top managers and the composition of owners (can be interpreted both positive and negative, up to a crisis), attempts at a hostile takeover (can be either supported by stakeholders or vice versa).
* Personnel: salary reductions, layoffs, strikes, possible change of place of work (we can assume that this event is almost permanent for most employees, and it is necessary for employees to decide to stay at the enterprise), etc.
* Market: change (growth or fall) in market share, entry of a new competitor, launch of a new product by a competitor or enterprise, change in pricing policy, change in the usual product market, etc.
3. For each event, determine the possible consequences for the business.
* An industrial accident (with casualties among personnel and/or release of harmful substances into the atmosphere) can affect business in the following ways:
Protests and strikes among personnel (at the emergency enterprise and possibly at other enterprises of the same owner).
Protests by families of injured employees.
The outflow of employees from the enterprise.
Authorities' sanctions (fines, stricter production requirements, termination of contracts, etc.), etc.
* Unscheduled inspections by regulatory authorities.
* Decrease in sales (if the company operates in the consumer market).
* Fall in the value of the company (if it is listed on the stock market).
* The introduction of new industrial capacities (new production) can lead to:
Changes in sales volumes (both increase and decrease).
Connecting the administrative resource of the regional administration to resolve issues at the local level (but also possible sanctions from the authorities of the neighboring region).
Changes in working conditions with suppliers and corporate consumers.
4. For each consequence, the groups involved are determined, on which the size of changes in financial flow for the business depends. For example.
