All that is gold does not glitter
Things to keep in mind when establishing the reputation of your company.
Written By: Tony Sprando and Kate Couch
Most people fall under the assumption that reputation can only be built over time. The mom-and-pop shop that’s been around since the 50s doing things the good old-fashioned way. Or the tried-and-true Google ratings. Though these things can be important for a business to have they are not everything. It seems like everyone is so focused on the “eye candy.” What can they do to instantly catch people’s attention? A flashy website, cool photos, merchandise, or a 5-star review on Google. But the problem is with the focus placed on the things that may satisfy the instant gratification, the hard-working, job well-done, reputation can fall through the cracks. When browsing the internet the internet, cool, stock images may catch the eye but don’t really replace or represent a good reputation
This idea of judging a book by its cover has been around for eons. When looking for a place to eat, when looking for a new book to read, even when looking for a spouse we tend to go with things that we notice first, things that catch our eye. The problem with these things is that they tend to not last or properly represent their value. I have read plenty of books with gorgeous covers and even better pages, I have also chosen based of the flashy cover and they ended up being awful. There is precedent importance on the little things, though not as shiny they hold a much deeper hidden weight.
What makes a good company good?
When thinking about what makes good company things like excellent customer service, quality products, timely delivery and installation, and pleasant employees all come to mind. These things often drive the inspiration for a five-star rating on Google. Novice business owners frequently focus on getting the rating rather than building the foundation for these grounds. If you want good reviews on the internet look at where your customers are most frequently involved with your company. How is your customer service? If you’re providing a service like AV are you executing their ideas and solving their problems? These things will build an excellent reputation for your brand.
What is AV Bend’s formula?
Every job comes down to the person leaving it from start to finish. Did the customer have a good experience on the phone? Did the customer’s ideas get executed properly? Did the customer understand what was happening and what technology or systems were being integrated into their business or home? These are the questions that AV Bend asks themselves while on the job to make sure that the job, start to finish is done properly and the customer feels satisfied. These are the grounds for a good reputation, that any business AV or not can follow.
An AV Bend Story
Most of our AV jobs are start to finish but every once in a while we’ll have particularly more involvement with the customer involving higher-level AV techs. In one case, a customer needed more training (learning how to operate the things being installed) on their project than what was in our normal scope of work, so they felt frustrated. This is understandable and luckily doesn’t happen too frequently. There’s always a way to make things right. We made a point to take the customer out to lunch and listen. Listening is the best tool we have. This made them feel important and we then proceeded to buy the entire onsite team dinner and provide an in-depth training session. This wrapped up the job nicely, informed all of our employees, and made a customer feel listened to. All these things were important to making the project properly executed.
Listening in any area of life is extraordinarily important and gives me the difference between a good reputation and a bad one.