If you think about some of the sayings we heard as children, you will immediately realize how important reputation is. “Give a dog a bad name…” is a favourite of mine. If you have bad reputation it doesn’t matter how much good you do – people will think negatively of you. “Get the name of being an early riser and you can stay in bed all day” is another favourite! Once you have established your good reputation, people will think well of you.

Look at how job references reflect good reputation. The candidate is “completely reliable”, “utterly trustworthy” or “of impeccable character”. I honestly believe that the CV is what gets you the interview. Well, that makes sense, you either can – or cannot – do the job. It is your interview and your character reference that gets you the job. As an employer, I can have an easy mind that you have a pleasant personality with previous employers.

It is hard to win reputation. We all invest a lot of time, effort and energy to build it. You do not get a reputation for being a hard worker, for example, unless you actually put in the hours. Similarly a problem solver is someone who has established their ability to think clearly and design solutions.

Companies and brands also need good reputations. Remember the LADA car? Do you remember how children told their parents that they did not want their peers to see them arriving at school in a LADA? I have no idea if the car deserved a bad reputation or not – I know nothing about it – except that its reputation must have deprived them of many sales.

Many years ago, I recommended a well-known video production company to a PR client. The client told me that he was reluctant to use the company because he had heard that the Video Company was in financial difficulty. I recommended that he phone the MD and ask for a meeting. The MD was delighted with the opportunity to explain that the business had been in difficulty some 4 or 5 years previously, but had recovered fully. He offered my client the opportunity to send his accountant in to view the books. They are still doing business together all these years later!

Everyone knows the larger companies. Why? Because they invest time and money in public relations to tell you about the things that they do within their communities, for their employees, for the environment, for charity etc. It is important for them that their customers know more about them than their products. So, when you are offered a product which carries a well-known companies brand, you feel that you know the company, you are in good hands, they have a solid reputation (even if you have no idea how you ‘know’ all of this!). Reputation matters.

Public Relations: Crucial to Reputation Management

Businesses can utilise PR skills to create a good reputation and gain credit for the things that they do. Public Relations courses will teach you how to create and manage your corporate reputation. Guard it well. Remember your mother’s advice as a child: “a good reputation is hard earned but easily lost”.