Understanding the Reputation of the Company – What Makes It Reputable?

Earlier this year, Newsweek released its list of the World’s Most Trustworthy Companies 2024. The list saw Samsung, Scholastic, and Ulta named as having earned the confidence of consumers, investors, and employees by producing quality products, paying employees fair wages, and appointing effective leaders. This recognition highlights companies that build trust through fairness and transparency across 23 industries and 20 countries.

To qualify for the list, Newsweek partnered with Statista and conducted an independent survey of more than 70,000 participants, collecting 230,000 evaluations from customers, investors, and employees. The rankings also incorporated social listening, analysing mentions across social platforms.

Consumers were asked to rate how much they trusted each company and how they felt about each company in relation to four main areas: esteem, admiration, trust, and emotional connection.

According to Weber Shandwick’s research into what influences company reputation, what people say and online reviews were the biggest influential factors into what a consumer thinks about a company, here’s the full table below:

Why is a company’s reputation important?

A trustworthy company is vital to its long term survival. A good reputation attracts and retains customers, investors and top talent, a bad reputation loses sales, revenue and damages the brand. A company’s reputation is built on its actions, interactions and experiences with customers, stakeholders and the wider community.

Research says 83% of consumers would buy from companies with good reputations and 9% would buy from a company with a bad reputation.

So how does a company earn a good reputation? What can a company do to have a good reputation?

Factors that affect a company’s reputation

Factors that affect a company’s reputation are customer experiences, online reviews, social media engagement, employee behaviour and product quality. Positive customer experiences and interactions, in-person or online, greatly impact how a company is perceived. Happy customers share their good experiences and build trust, unhappy customers damage the company’s image.

Online reviews and feedback on social media or review sites further shape the perception. A company’s social media presence and transparency and responsiveness reinforces its credibility. Employee behaviour and company culture reflects its values; a good work environment translates to good customer service. High quality and reliable products ensures long term consumer trust. All these are important in building a reputable and trustworthy company.

By having a positive online presence and being reliable in every interaction a company can build a reputation that inspires confidence and loyalty from customers, employees and investors.

In the end reputation is earned through long term effort and excellence, a company becomes a trusted leader in its industry. Chain issues and product quality can impact a company’s reputation and customer perception. Consistency and reliability is key to a good reputation.

What a company needs for a positive reputation

• Having a good product or service –  It sounds obvious, but actually having a good quality product or service is the best way to keep your customers happy and avoid negative reviews or comments. If you are getting customer feedback, listen to it and, if necessary, make changes to your product or service accordingly.
• Have a good customer service function –  The customer must be at the centre of everything a company does. Customers often take to online review sites, forums, and social media to air complaints and opinions. It’s inherent that companies listen to and respond to online comments about them.

  If it is a complaint, ensure that you apologise first and foremost, and then take steps to solve whatever issue the customer is having—ideally taking the conversation offline to prevent escalation.

• Treat employees with respect  – Bradley Honan, CEO of KRC Research, said: “The way an employer treats its employees reveals the character of the company. If a company treats its employees badly, why trust it to treat its customers well? It is just good for business to be a good employer.”

  Employees can be your biggest advocates. When they speak positively about your company, it carries weight and enhances trust.

• Work holistically –  Online reviews, forum comments, and social media posts are often seen as marketing issues, but most complaints online are customer service issues and should be treated as such. Similarly, financial problems causing bad press require collaboration between finance and marketing teams. Unified communication ensures consistency and effectiveness in addressing customer concerns.

What approach should a business owner take?

The first step to take is to actually see what people are saying about you online – you can gauge the volume of negative and positive content and start to make changes to your internal processes and online strategies as a result.

Businesses should take charge of their own reputation by actively monitoring and shaping public perception. Start by setting up Google Alerts for your company name and then look into brand monitoring software.

Review how your departments currently work together and take steps to improve communication and processes within your team. Not only will this improve how you react and respond to consumer comments, but it’ll help staff morale because everything will run much more smoothly.

Take Control with Reputation Management

Taking control of your reputation requires more than addressing individual concerns or creatine a positive online reputation. It means committing to a structured approach to reputation management and recognising its importance as a vital part of your business strategy. By being proactive and intentional, companies can protect their brand reputation, strengthen customer relationships, and ensure long-term success.

Reputation management is the process of monitoring, maintaining, and improving a company’s reputation or corporate reputation. This involves several key aspects that are essential for building trust and credibility. Regularly monitoring online reviews and feedback allows businesses to identify areas for improvement and address customer concerns promptly, ensuring a responsive and proactive approach. Additionally, responding effectively to customer complaints demonstrates that the company values its customers and is committed to resolving issues, which can foster stronger relationships and customer loyalty.

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Creating and maintaining a positive online presence is another crucial element of reputation management. Social media platforms, review sites, and other digital channels provide opportunities to engage with customers and reinforce trust through transparency and consistent communication. Engaging directly with stakeholders, including customers, employees, and investors, strengthens these connections and reinforces the company’s commitment to openness and integrity. Together, these efforts form the foundation of effective reputation management.

Measuring and evaluating a company’s reputation regularly is essential for identifying areas that require improvement. By doing so, businesses can gather valuable insights that guide informed decisions and help develop effective strategies for managing their reputation. Regular evaluations ensure that companies remain proactive in addressing potential concerns and maintaining a positive image in the eyes of stakeholders.

To summarise

In conclusion, what makes a company reputable is its ability to build genuine relationships and consistently exceed expectations. A reputable company earns trust through high-quality products, outstanding customer service, and a strong commitment to ethical practices. Businesses create an environment of respect and reliability by treating employees fairly, engaging openly with stakeholders, and listening attentively to feedback.

When companies demonstrate consistency, transparency, and care in every interaction, they build lasting loyalty and confidence among consumers, employees, and investors. Ultimately, being reputable is about delivering excellence not just occasionally but as a standard, setting the company apart as a trusted and respected leader

Get in touch

If you’d like further advice on any of the points listed above, get in touch with me in complete confidence at simon@igniyte.co.uk or on tel: +44 (0) 203 542 8689.