Small businesses have to work harder out of the gate to earn customers’ trust. After all, with limited sales and brand presence, many consumers may be understandably wary of your business. To mitigate their caution and encourage them to visit your business frequently, focus on building your reputation.
Improving your reputation may require adjusting your strategies in multiple business areas, from your website to your values. However, not all these changes are feasible for businesses that are just starting. If you’re unsure where to begin, here are a few simple ways to build a positive reputation for your small business.
1. Provide high-quality products or services.
Your ability to deliver on your promises is the foundation of a trustworthy reputation, so your priority should be to provide high-quality products or services to your customers. Rigorously test your offerings to ensure they meet the standards your customers expect.
Not only will great products and services result in happy customers, but this will also lead to customers sharing their positive experiences with your company. For example, check out this Reddit post by a happy customer. This customer made a purchase at Osume, a small Canadian retailer selling parts for mechanical keyboards. The post features a photo of a note Osume included in the customer’s order. It explains a small error in the product’s color and that they’ve sent two versions to ensure customer satisfaction.
Most notably, the customer wrote in a comment below: “It’s honestly the little things that go a long, long way and I wanted to take a second to acknowledge [Osume] and sing their high praises for those in the community who have not engaged with their brand yet.”
This example clearly illustrates that when you impress your customers with high-quality products and services, they’ll repay you by spreading the word and boosting your reputation!
2. Deliver excellent customer service.
Imagine visiting a restaurant you’ve been excited to try. Although you made a reservation online, the hostess can’t locate it, leading to a long wait time. Then, once you’re seated, your waiter takes a long time to greet you and take your order. They don’t return to check on you throughout dinner, even when you try to catch their attention. Although the food is tasty, you still feel sour.
Customer service is another key element in building your small business’s reputation. Customers expect a certain standard of care from your staff members, and if you’re unable to meet it, they’ll leave unimpressed. However, excellent service can set your business apart from competitors and earn customer goodwill.
Consider the popular gym chain LA Fitness. In 2023, this business was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that the company had predatory and misleading membership cancellation practices. This lawsuit represents a great deal of customer frustration with the business regarding its customer service, which has led to even more negative press.
So, let’s say you run a gym like LA Fitness. How could you improve customer service to boost your reputation and increase gym memberships? On top of taking Sneakers4Good’s recommendation to research your community’s preferences, you can also make it easy for members to cancel their membership by making a quick call to your team or using an online portal. Train your employees to interact with customers and nurture a customer-centric culture. And ensure your facilities are always clean and well-maintained.
3. Build trust through transparency.
It’s common for businesses to face obstacles that may derail their plans, from production issues to cash flow management difficulties. These challenges can lead you to miss your goals and potentially disappoint customers.
For newer entrepreneurs, running into challenges is a point of shame. It can be embarrassing to admit that you’ve messed up or that circumstances outside of your control have led you to a difficult situation. However, that’s exactly what you should do to maintain your business’s reputation. Being transparent with your customers when you encounter difficulties humanizes your business and keeps them in the loop about any issues they may experience.
Generally speaking, messages about business challenges should follow this recipe:
- Acknowledge the issue.
- Explain why the issue is happening.
- Discuss what you’re doing to mitigate the issue.
- Provide a timeline for resolution and updates.
For instance, let’s say you run a thrift store that sells consignment items. When you realize that you’ve misplaced some items, you might send the following message to the affected customers:
Dear [name here],
Thank you for trusting us to consign your items. Unfortunately, several of your items were erroneously disposed of in our most recent inventory clearout.
We are incredibly sorry this happened and will revamp our inventory management processes to prevent it from happening again.
We would like to offer you the amount you would have received had we sold your item at full price at our store. Please contact our team at [email address or phone number] to let us know how you would like to receive these funds.
Once again, we are incredibly sorry for this issue and will make improvements to ensure it does not happen again.
Sincerely,
[Your business’s name]
Customers respect you when you own up to your mistakes. As long as you make things right, they’ll see these transparent messages as positive rather than negative, resulting in a better reputation for your small business.
4. Request online reviews.
Social proof is a powerful way to boost your small business’s reputation. If other people recommend your products and services, your business naturally looks more trustworthy. To that end, MassageBook recommends requesting personal testimonials and reviews from satisfied, loyal customers.
Start by identifying customers who repeatedly visit your store. Reach out to them and ask them to provide their reviews of your services on Google, Yelp, and other popular sites. Public reviews will improve your business’s reputation and garner new clients.
In addition to reviews, you can also request feedback from your customers to help you offer innovative new products and services that delight your audience. Create a short feedback survey and send a link to it through email or SMS to maximize your chances of receiving a response. Once clients fill out the survey, examine their responses for any common feedback and implement improvements as necessary.
5. Give back to your community.
When you first start your business, you might not have the funds and resources to worry about anything other than your company’s success. However, once you reach a more sustainable point, you can start thinking about ways to give back to your community.
77% of consumers want to purchase from companies with corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and 55% of employees say they would take a lower salary to work for a socially responsible company. In that sense, philanthropy and community involvement set your small business apart from its competitors. CSR efforts also elevate your reputation, as consumers appreciate that your company doesn’t solely focus on profits but also on improving its community.
Giving back doesn’t need to break the bank, either. Start by looking for volunteer opportunities for your small business team. You could help a local sports team’s fundraising event, spend a weekend working at the pet shelter, or even promote events for nonprofits with missions you feel passionate about.
As your business grows, you can begin allocating a certain amount of funds to charitable giving or dedicated CSR programs, such as by matching employee gifts or offering volunteer grants.
A positive reputation for your business doesn’t come from just a single action. It entails everything from your customer service strategies to your communications with customers. Start with these strategies to build up your reputation. After a few months, evaluate your standing in the community and determine if you need to make any tweaks!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wayne Elsey
Wayne Elsey is the founder and CEO of Elsey Enterprises (EE) and a member of the Forbes Business Development Council. Among his various independent brands, he is also the founder and CEO of Sneakers4Good, which is a social enterprise that helps schools, churches, nonprofits, individuals and other organizations raise funds while helping to support micro-enterprise (small business) opportunities in developing nations.
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