adminreputation and trust.
One has to bear in mind that we do not operate in isolation and the importance of each of these elements cannot be underestimated. I did some research on the subject and I got so engrossed on the attendant issues at hand, but I shall try to put it into context.
Each one of the three elements is critical and successful entrepreneurs who integrate and implement all the three will always have stories to tell as testimony of their business success.
Drawing attention is always easy to achieve and it is a starting point for each entrepreneur that wants to build on the other two elements.
The goal of attention is to attract potential customers. It can be achieved for free with some type of viral marketing campaign or paying for it by using different marketing tools.
Attention
When we talk about free attention it is more difficult to achieve without the other two elements. Without the other two elements we cannot expect that the people – potential customers – will spread the word to their friends.
If they don’t trust us, they will not recommend us to others. Word of mouth is a very useful vehicle to tell others about one’s business operations.
Reputation
The second element is reputation and it is more difficult to acquire and at the same time more important than the first one. It is a simple mix of several things that are:
Public opinion: What is public opinion about you?
Social evaluation: How the community evaluates you?
Identity defined by other people: What kind of identity you receive from other people?
It follows therefore that reputation is basically what others think of you. It is something that we have no control over and if in my mind I just consider you as an unreliable person, that’s it. My good old mentor DK, who is always full of advice and wisdom, said we should never forget that an elephant has a long lasting memory.
How appropriate, and it always reminds me of the tale where this young man got the revenge of an elephant decades after teasing the calf. It is your reputation at stake and that should guide you in all your business practices that you should not be consumed with short-term gains but rather have a long-term view to all transactions.
Because it is the thinking of other persons, entrepreneurs do not have much influence in this sphere. All is not lost, however, as public opinion can be swayed thanks to the various media that is now at our disposal.
You can now design a media campaign that can quickly build a reputation and positively influence public opinion about you and your business.
Trust
Probably the last and most important element in this cycle is trust. It is the only element that cannot be bought with money, but can simply be acquired. You cannot influence trust through different intermediaries such as influential media. No way!
Trust is that element which provides repetition of buying and long-term stability of the business. Therefore, the goal of an entrepreneur is to build trust among prospects and current customers.
It is something that will increase the reputation of any business and will attract the attention of new potential customers. Everything will be much easier when an entrepreneur succeeds in building trust. So this is something that should be a strategic goal for an entrepreneur.
Stephen Covey in his book “The Speed of Trust”, observes as thus:
“When trust goes down, speed will also go down and costs will go up. When trust goes up, speed will also go up and costs will go down.” Put simply, when we do not have trust we cannot expect quickly to attract attention and to build a reputation. These key elements bode well for good corporate practices across the board and works well for both small and large enterprises.
Let’s strive to create a conducive environment that will ensure the prosperity of our business through good corporate practices. As always, let’s make money.
Online Reporter