In terms of trust, is ‘business as usual’ what we really want? For many business owners and operators the answer will clearly be ‘yes’.

However, given the ever-expanding list of failed finance companies, apparently less-than-honourabe senior executives and so-called ‘professionals’ that turned out to be anything but, a large number of the people I’m speaking with certainly don’t want business to go back to being ‘usual’. What they want is quite the opposite – ‘business unusual’ – particularly in terms of trust that is, demonstrate some!

Business heretic Mark Di Somma’s blog post ‘Peak Trust’ is very timely and right on the button. Much like the concept of ‘peak oil’, Di Somma notes “some sectors have reached and passed their highest levels of trust – and that they can now expect trust to be harder to find and to cost much more to generate than it has historically.” I agree.

The fact that so many industries and sectors are now having to be regulated, and legally reigned-in, in an effort to weed-out the unscrupulous and dishonest is pretty disheartening.

One would think businesses would put their client or customer first – as so many say they do – and genuinely provide what’s right for the custmer as opposed to what maximises profits for the business. However, for a large swathe of businesses, and individuals within them, this wasn’t, and isn’t, the case.

Philosopher Joseph Hall said “A reputation, once broken, may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep its eyes on the spot where the crack was”.

Regulation won’t win back high levels of trust. It will simply make it easier for consumers to consider one more variable in deciding who to engage with and use. Although it’s sad, it’s essential in a post-’peak trust’ economy.

Photo: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters at www.guardian.co.uk

Leadership expert Jasbindar Singh hit the nail on the head when she blogged about the six leadership lessons we can learn from BP CEO Tony Hayward’s behaviour to disaster still occuring in the Gulf of Mexico.

Hayward has attracted much criticism for his apparent inability to demonstrate any kind of genuine empathy for the people, wildlife and general environment affected by BP’s catastrophic oil spill.

Over a million gallons of oil a day are spewing into the ocean and yet Haywood seemed more concerned about himself, openly stating ‘… I’d like my life back …’ before heading away to attend a sailing regatta.

BP Chairman’s remark ‘we care about the small people’ also infuriated peole worldwide, and left BP’s senior executives looking like self-absorbed, spoilt brats concerned solely about the oil and profits being lost to BP, rather than the economic and environmental impacts their rig explosion caused.

CE’s get paid big bucks to handle crises – preferably with integrity. Making excuses and blaming others is behaviour unbecoming of any CEO, especially one whose company was responsible for the level of damage caused. No matter what happens now, BP’s reputation will always be tarnished by the comments Tony Hayward and Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg made, and the way they responded. Read the rest of this entry »

For many businesses, particularly those providing services, more than 85% of business comes from personal referrals and recommendations. Yet many businesses spend thousands of hours, and dollars, trying to acquire new customers, and relatively little time and effort nurturing and retaining their existing ones.

Valuing and retaining your current clients and customers is essential. Not only will you benefit from their continued custom directly, you are also more likely to benefit from any new clients or customers they recommend. And given that it’s 6-7 times more expensive to gain one new client or customer than it is to retain one, retaining your existing clients and customers, and being highly recommendable, can have a huge positive impact on your profitability.

Clients and customers who already trust and respect you:

• are more likely to acknowledge, and value, what you provide and the benefits they gain from dealing with you
• may be more willing to accept your prices, terms and conditions without question or negotiation
• are often more loyal
• require less ’selling to’ and
• are more likely to continue doing business with you, and even increase the amount they spend, as their trust in you increases.

They are also significantly more likely to recommend you to people they know and trust giving you an opportunity to gain new clients whilst reducing your acquisition costs and improving your profitability. Read the rest of this entry »

We live in an age of instant global communication and no one knows that better than young people who are incredibly at home in a highly networked world.  What’s also become incredibly apparent is just how vulnerable those same young people are to seriously damaging their reputation by not thinking through long term consequences of online or digital communications.

Downsides of such actions can generate much media play: schoolyard bashings filmed on mobile phone cameras; child bullying by text and emails; young people sharing too much personal information on social networking sites; doubtful photos casting the wrong light on how people present themselves.  

Schools, universities and even employers are checking out online reputations of applicants and taking action accordingly.

So what can a parent teach their digitally advanced child about this realm?  Ten top tips for parents to share with their children include:

1.  Once information is on the internet it’s basically there forever and can be copied, forwarded and misused. Thousands of strangers will read your comments without knowing the type of person you really are, and will draw their own conclusions.

2.  Other people will judge you based on what you say and do on the internet. Small details in the background of images can identify you and others. Think carefully before publishing online information and images.

3.  Never publish anything when you’re in a rush or under pressure. Wait, re-read it and publish it only when you’re sure you want it visible to everyone – forever. Read the rest of this entry »

There are many ways to create, and maintain, a winning reputation, some of which are specific to an industry, or even a business or individual. However, the seven ‘Reputation Branding Essentials’ below apply across the board and can help you develop and maintain a reputation that will open doors rather than slam them shut!

1. Keep abreast of changing values and expectations
People’s expectations are constantly changing. What they value in you, and your products or services, today may not be what they value tomorrow. Read and research widely and actively engage with those you want to create lasting relationships with regularly to stay in tune with them.

2.  Aim for ‘win/win’ outcomes from every interaction
Focus on nurturing a long-term relationship rather than a short term gain. For example, if you know another provider may have a better solution than you, recommend them. The level of trust your client or customer will have in you will go up and your reputation will be enhanced immensely.

3.  Make it easy for people to recommend you
When someone recommends you, they are putting their reputation on the line. Make people feel good about dealing with you and you’ll enhance your chances of being recommended. Deliver on your promises and focus on building high-trust, high-value relationships. Acting with integrity will also help you be recommended more often.

4.  Never ‘bad-mouth’ or be disparaging about others
Bad-mouthing your competitors or others is a major reputation loser. No-one likes a gossip. News travels fast, especially online and people will think “if they say those things about them, what might they be saying about me?” If you don’t have anything good to say, it’s better to say nothing at all. Read the rest of this entry »

In terms of acting ethically, employers who say one thing, but do another, will find it increasingly difficult to attract and retain loyal employees according to new international and New Zealand-based research.

Even though the tables have been turned somewhat as a result of the recession, and employers may have an apparently wider choice of candidates for vacant positions, the issue facing many workplaces today is whether they are shortlisted by candidates at all.

An article in the New Zealand Herald today notes a survey of 100,000 people across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific by Kelly Services found almost 90% of respondents said they were more likely to work for an organisation they believed was ethically and socially responsible.

The article’s author, Brad Stewart, also notes 80% said they would like to work for an environmentally responsible employer, and the willingness to accept lower pay to work for an employer with a good reputation was high across the generations. Fifty-three percent of Baby Boomers, 48% of Gen X and 46% of Gen Y respondents said they’d go for a good reputation ahead of higher pay. Read the rest of this entry »

When a company decides to have an official presence on Facebook, or other online social media network, they open themselves up to two huge opportunities:

• They can connect and communicate with potential and existing clients and customers keen to engage in a dialogue with that company and build trust in the process.

• They also run the risk of getting offside with ‘fans’, friends’ and ‘followers’ big-time if they fail to understand the ‘rules of engagement’ and try and use what are perceived as ‘big-brother’ tactics in the process.

The fall-out that’s occurred, which is neatly summarised in Bernard Warner’s blog post at SocialMediaToday.com, demonstrates how the internet can become a bitter battlefield where wars are won or lost based not on words, but on behaviour.

No matter how much a company or organisation may want to control their image and reputation online, it’s almost impossible to do – especially via Social Networking sites such as Facebook.

Attacking its commentators is unlikely to have endeared Nestle to the 90,000 or so ‘friends’ it has (had?) on Facebook as Rick Broida points out at bnet.com.

I’d hazard a guess it would have earned more respect, and perhaps even enhanced its reputation, if it had responded in a way that said ‘we hear you, we welcome your feedback, and we’re actually quite pleased you’re taking the time to let us know how you feel’.

Read the rest of this entry »

Did you finalise your New Year resolutions? Got your targets and action plans in place for a stellar year in 2010? Are you lining things up to give yourself the best chance possible of achieving everything you want this year?

Great! You’re amongst a small percentage of people committed to making things happen. People who are willing to be held accountable for their actions, and accept full responsibility for their achievement.

Setting high targets and challenging ourselves is a worthy pursuit. Congratulate yourself as you tick them off your ‘to-do’ list and enjoy the sense of satisfaction that will surely come from achieving your goals.

And as you enjoy the journey, remember that in our rush to acquire more, achieve more and experience more, we sometimes forget that what we have, and do, is less important than who we are and how we contribute.

The words of Michael Josephson, of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, are very timely at the start of a new year and new decade. We are, after all, human ‘beings’, not human ‘doings’ or human ‘havings’.  What will matter?

Read the rest of this entry »

New Year resolutions happen every year, but predictions generally only occur at the turn of a decade. Knowing what might happen before it actually occurs would certainly be handy.

If we could predict what might happen it would certainly give us a competitive edge.  We could be ‘one-step-ahead-of-the-game’, give us an opportunity to maximise every opportunity and put all our efforts into those things likely to generate the greatest reward – whatever we might want that to be.

Moving from the ‘noughties’ to the teen years of the 21st Century  gives us a opportunity, not only to look back on what happend between 2000 and 2009 – think iTunes, the social media explosion and wireless internet – but also to look ahead and predict what might happen during 2010 and beyond. Read the rest of this entry »

Think social media doesn’t matter to you, your business or your reputation? Think again!  Socialnomics’ ‘Social Media Revolution’ clip on YouTube is doing an excellent job of showing how important social media is, and will continue to be, to all of us – both as consumers and product and service providers.

There are currently more than 200 million blogs with 54 percent bloggers posting content or tweeting daily.  Around 34 percent of these bloggers are posting opinions about products and brands online. What might they be saying about you?

It’s worth giving it some thought as around 78 percent of consumers trust peer recommendations, but only 14 percent trust advertisements.  I wonder why?!

Now, you might think ‘all this web stuff’s not for me’ and you may be right. But celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Ellen DeGeneres currently have more followers on Twitter than the entire population of Ireland, Norway and Panama. Read the rest of this entry »