Guarding Your Business Reputation in This Virtual World

We can learn a lot about people by reading their comments and posts on the many different social media sites. This is something that can be a good thing – or a bad thing – depending on who is reading and why.

If you are a business owner, like I am, this can be extremely helpful or hurtful. Whether we like it or not, we ARE the business. What we do and say is a representation of ourselves, obviously. But it is also a representation of your professionalism and trust. Just how important is this?

As the owner of a turnkey business package, we can find a lot about the people who are interested in become a part of our organization. If they are on any social media sites, we are able to get a glimpse of how they will represent our brand if we choose to do business together.

We don’t have to find people who are in total agreement with our thought processes, political views or other opinions (in fact we prefer differences of opinion). And we are not prudes. But we do need to be concerned how people who become a part of our company will be viewed in the virtual world as well as in person. Are their comments offensive? Are they full of language that most people would not appreciate? Would they be a good representative of our brand?

On the other side of the issue is how people feel when they check out the business owner. Will they want to do business with us? If we want to share our love for our favorite college football team, discuss our political views, complain about some lousy service we just received or comment about a controversial issue, we can. But it’s important to remember to do it professionally and politely.

Though people can argue that there is a time and place for everything and anything, there is still the issue of how much are you willing to say and how you are willing to say it. Is it worth possibly losing customers just because you want to exercise our right to free speech? This is a question only you can answer.

Social media is a tool that enables people to basically peek in your windows to see who you really are. When we ask prospective Group Members how they heard about us, the majority have said through an internet search. And most have commented that they then found us on social media. Each one who followed us on these sites stated that getting to know us is what encouraged them to want to work with us. Seeing how we “behaved when no one is watching” gave them the confidence and comfort that we are a company and a couple that they want to be associated with.

This is a helpful comment for us and for all business owners. You don’t know everyone who is following you, watching you, reading you – or why. Representing yourself professionally might make the sale. Displaying a less than professional persona might also prevent the sale.

We experienced an issue a couple years ago that proves how a few words can ruin a reputation with the possibility of ruining a business. Someone posted that people shouldn’t trust us, that we don’t return phone calls. It turned out that this person was stung by another home inventory turnkey business. He was attempting to reach us, and due to phone number misprint (unfortunate timing), we didn’t get his messages. He posted on line that we, and all turnkey packages, were scams. Luckily, we had great support from business owners who know us well and they quickly jumped on the site and rebutted this unknown person’s comments, attesting to our high level of customer service. A few days later he did post a retraction, admitting that he didn’t even search for us on line and assumed because we didn’t get back with him that we were in the same league as the person who treated him poorly. It was a minor blip, quickly corrected, but really shows how fast one’s reputation can be damaged.

Branding is so much more than a logo in this virtual, social world. It puts a whole new meaning to the phrase we all learned as children: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” I don’t believe that to be true anymore. The words we use on social media can do a lot of damage. What you say is out there for the world to see. How do you represent yourself? Your business?