Truer words have not been spoken than when investor and philanthropist, Warren Buffet, said that it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to destroy it. Have you been earnestly building a reputation for your business/brand? What do you have in place to ensure said reputation is not ruined? This is where Public Relations (PR) take centre stage especially since PR sets the stage long before a crisis strikes. With a solid PR strategy, you can create a bank account of goodwill that will help you to survive any possible negativity that may come your way; in other words, your business/organization/brand will be able to survive a negative ‘hit’ to its reputation. Think of it like insurance; proactively focusing on PR even when there is no sign of a crisis helps to ensure a steady stream of positivity.

Unfortunately, in business, sometimes there are challenges and crises no matter how small or big your organization, whether it be a case of a customer getting food poisoning after eating at your restaurant/hotel, your CFO embezzling money, employees going on strike, a senior management official involved in inappropriate behaviour or a customer having an allergic reaction to a product. Multiple instances of any of these examples can take your business to the grave. Ultimately what the stakeholders or the customers see is what really matters. How your customer feels means everything and they are more likely to reward you with their hard-earned money and loyalty if you have developed a lot of goodwill. Remember reputation is all about perception and goodwill has significant value. Here are a few ways to build goodwill:

Build a rapport with the media – Whilst you shouldn’t be overloading the media with too much information, it’s vital to seek ways of increasing the visibility of your brand. If you win an award or competition, if you donate, if you assist in feeding or sending kids to school, inform the media. Forget the notion that you don’t want to publicize it because everyone doesn’t have to know you did something.

Yes, they do need to know! Because if you don’t tell the public, they would think you never do anything, and this will influence how loyal or supportive they are of your brand. Mitigating a crisis requires laying a foundation beforehand and good relationships can mean the difference between all out kill piece online/in the newspaper or a full-on radio batter of your brand versus a lukewarm story or mention during a radio talk show. Think about it this way, if you continue to see negative stories about a brand on Google or social media, what would you think of that company? If a customer sees more positive stories or sentiments than negative ones, they are more likely to look past it and trust your business.

Service satisfaction – An unsatisfied customer affects your goodwill. Satisfaction is a baseline used by customers to assess the quality of your product or service.

Commitment – If a customer is being loyal towards your brand, it means they are happy and content with the service/product they buy. This loyalty comes from trust that has been built up over time as you offer consistency across all the interactions you have with the customers.

Emotional connection – Once customers feel content with the relationship they have with your business/brand, they are less likely to look elsewhere even if there are price differences. Make them feel valued and they will be around for a long time.

Candice Sealey is the Founder & Principal Consultant at Ignite! a Full-service Marketing & PR Consultancy that helps businesses/brands to stand out and communicate the right message to the right people through Strategy, Marketing, Media services and Design solutions. She is also a freelance content writer, advertising copywriter, voiceover talent, media. Follow us on FB & IG @igniteresults Follow us on FB & IG @igniteresults Phone:784-432-2223. Email: igniteresults@gmail.com