Customers are more likely to trust a company with a good reputation. Your reputation can be affected by all kinds of factors – public reviews, media attention and word of mouth are all ways in which we hear good or bad things about a business. Here are a few ways in which you can build up a positive public image and build more clientele.  

Improve your customer service

The way you treat customers has the biggest impact on your reputation. Make sure that you’re making every effort to please customers. By asking your customers for feedback, you can discover new ways of improving your customer service – this could be via a feedback form or simply by asking them. If you get complaints, try to do what you can to amend the issue and compensate your customers. Try to encourage happy customers to leave positive reviews online (you can also ask to use positive comments as testimonials on your website).

Support your local community

You can also encourage support from your local community by getting involved in local projects. This could include joining local business groups and investing money in local projects. This will help you to build a name for yourself locally and earn respect as a company. You can also form relationships with fellow local businesses by endorsing them on social media and recommending them to customers – these local business are likely to support you in return, helping to boost your reputation.

Give to charity

Giving to charity can show a philanthropic side that will endear people to you, showing that you’re not just interested in making money but also giving it back. You could raise funds in a donation box, host a charity event or donate some of your profits to a charity. Simply choose a cause that you believe in and start donating – you could even start your own charity.

Reduce your carbon footprint

People are more likely to buy into a company that is environmentally friendly. Your CDP score is used to measure your carbon footprint – by using green methods you can boost your score and help to build a better reputation. Environmentally friendly measures could include using cutting down your fossil fuel usage, doing away with paper and recycling more waste. You can hire environmental inspectors to assess your business and suggest improvements in order to make your company greener.

Look after your employees

Its worth ensuring that your employees are happy. Failing to look after your employees could cause many of them to leave and result in a high turnover – this won’t look good for your business. Employees can now leave reviews online of their experience working for a company that could affect your ability to hire the best staff in the future. Try to keep employees happy by offering good pay and incentives. Make sure that you’re recognizing their strengths and achievements and giving constructive criticism.

Featured Image Source