Reputations are not what a company is but what people think about a company. It does not matter how hard your build the character of the true organization, if the reputation is not present, then the character does not matter.
“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
Abraham Lincoln
Therefore, no matter how hard a company has struggle to build a character the reputation of that company will be what people will relate to.
In building a reputation there are four fundamentals that must be adhered to:
- What others think and portray that have used your product or service.
- The message that the company provides to the marketplace.
- The professional image of the company, either brick and mortar or electronic image
- How easy it is to find the company and the product or service it offers.