As a business owner, you know that your business’s reputation is one of your most valuable assets. Customer loyalty drives sales and with a ruined reputation, this could go down the drain.
When customers disagree with the core values of a company and how it operates, there’s a huge chance that they’ll decide to take their business elsewhere. This makes it crucial for you to monitor your business’s reputation. Here are five things that customers don’t want to see from a business they support.
Poor Treatment of People
People love people, and nobody wants to see a large (or even small) company treating their customers, staff or others unfairly. Intentional wrongdoing specifically can be extremely damaging to a business’s reputation.
Showing a lack of respect, any unethical or illegal acts, sexual harassment in the workplace, mistreatment of customers and other such acts can have a serious impact on your company’s image. Organisational culture plays a huge role here, and all employees (and those in leadership roles) must be on board and the same page regarding how people are treated within the business.
Unfair Working Conditions
Similar to the previous point, customers need to see that you’re performing your business practice in a way that’s fair to all, including your staff. A good company treats its staff with respect for their time and efforts and values them. If customers can see that your employees are working under unfair conditions, being overworked, or treated unfairly in any such manner, this could be damaging for your business.
Discrimination
Any form of discrimination in your business is unacceptable and will most likely be seen as such by your client base.
Discriminating against staff or customers based on their race, gender, sexual preferences or any other personal factors is not only illegal but can have a huge impact on your sales and external support for your brand. On the other hand, being proactive about speaking out against discrimination is a great way to put your company in a positive light. Take discriminatory actions seriously and protect those you can against any such issues that might arise.
Poor Social Media Use
The misuse of social media by your company or an employee can spell danger for your business’s reputation. Social media is a huge opportunity for businesses to make a name for themselves, but you could just as easily go belly-up on these platforms.
Watch out for how social media is used on a professional basis – be mindful of inclusivity, language, and who is supported online to take care of your reputation with your online presence.
Service Decline
If your business already has a reputation for great service or quality products, be mindful to keep this up – a decline in service, quality or any other aspect of your business could seriously damage your reputation and leave your sales in a steady decline as well. Remember that word of mouth is always one of your business’s biggest marketing strategies, and you’ll want to make sure that people are only saying good things.
