Putting a Price Tag on Reputation Management in New Zealand

Customer loyalty can be difficult to put a price on as it often seems intangible. Small and large scale businesses are finding out that you can put a number on your Online Reputation.

The last 5 years has seen the financial crisis change the way businesses operate and many businesses are spending as much money on reputation protection as they are on other PR.

Control profits through your business’s online reputation management in New Zealand. A recent article in Business Week magazine highlighted that many larger businesses are more focused on brand reputation management than presenting new products, services and policies. Many businesses are sticking with what works and not taking product risks.

Like the way a stock price can move when a business changes a product or introduces a new product, issues around a business’s public image and how its perceived online can result in share fluctuations.

Business Week Calls it “the new science of reputation management,” and refers to research that shows that companies are beginning to use their online reputations as an asset in order to gain investors, customers and increased market share.

Planning is a big part of having an online presence, read more about this in an article from Mobilize Mail. Protect your online reputation by learning from large companies. In the current economic climate, how a business is perceived can lead to its success or failure.

Here are 3 lessons to learn from businesses that have managed to survive the financial crisis:

1. Risky policy or product changes are being replaced by initiatives to gain public trust – rapid change no longer seems the answer to increase profits.
2. Open and honest communication with the your clients and the buying public is key – the days of hidden business deals and agendas is long gone. With the huge popularity of social networking and the internet, the tendency to hide decisions and policies behind boardroom doors just is no longer acceptable.
3. Responding badly to an online reputation management crisis can be more damaging to your business reputation than the actual crisis itself – Everyone has seen a high-profile individual try and cover up public transgressions. This just no longer works. News spreads so quickly these days and the term “viral” sums up how quickly news spreads world wide. Smart businesses now focus on positive brand reputation management as opposed to using PR firms to deal with negative feedback or a public crisis.

There is no putting a price tag on your businesses online reputation management.