Let’s play a game of what would you rather?
Would you rather everyone knows your organization, but you have a so-so reputation?
OR
Would you rather a smaller number of people know your organization, and you have a fantastic reputation?
***
Would you rather have six months of sales that generate a lot of money?
OR
Would you rather have less, yet consistent, revenues over a longer period of time?
To me, the choices seem fairly obvious, but maybe it’s not as obvious as we’d like to admit in this frenzied culture we live in and it’s exemplified when you really look at the communications and marketing of organizations. Most times the focus is on driving numbers, driving revenues, and driving clicks or likes. It’s about mass awareness and mass distribution. Our team believes this: who cares if you have a so-so reputation, but everyone knows you? To us, and the clients we work with, the focus is on the long game and artfully, carefully, and consistently building (and living) a brand reputation over time, and I believe that wins the race. But you need a bit of patience!
So many organizations are tempted to focus their communications and advertising initiatives on sales and gimmicks to attract attention. It’s the elite few organizational leaders who take the time and attention to step back and analyze the future of their organization and engage their stakeholders (customers/clients, community, colleagues/co-workers) about what their perceptions are of their services, culture, and products – asking “what are we known for?” and then figuring out “what do we want to be known for?” When these leaders get feedback and things are off track, they work to start making measured changes to build capacity, fine tune operations, and recalibrate to get back to the core values of the organization and thus begin to build up, or back, their reputation. It’s hard and sometimes slow work.
As we emerge from the pandemic, what is your organization going to be known for in the decades ahead? What is your brand reputation currently? If it’s wavering, how are you going to get things back on track? If you’re already on a good reputational road, how are you going to amplify what you do to attract like-minded teammates to help you consistently deliver and ideal customers who appreciate the value you provide and will stick with you for the long term.
Take a moment. If you’ve read this far, you ARE a leader who is equipped to do good things because you care, you understand, and you invest time and energy. Now, just take a bit of time to look critically at where your organization is going and ask key people who will be honest with you on the reputation of your organization. Then, reach out to those, like our team and so many other consultants or organizations who can help guide you on this journey.