Day 7 of the 12-Day Personal Branding Challenge

What Do People Say About Your Business (And Why Does It Matter?)By Georgia Kirke

Wouldn’t it be amazing if all of your hard work establishing a personal brand instantly demonstrated to your target audience that you have the perfect solution to their problems?

In business we’re often judged by our most recent success, and unfortunately, your reputation is not decided by you.

American author Maya Angelou summed this concept up perfectly when she said: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Where does your reputation come from?

Your business reputation is what other people say about it when you’re not in the room. Your promises, your actions and how they impacted on the people around you create your reputation, and it’s often your reputation that helps someone decide whether or not to invest in your products or services. 

Have you ever stopped to consider what people might say or how that positively or negatively impacts on your bottom line?

Areas to consider

There are three main groups of people who are likely to be assessing your business and contributing to your reputation.

1. Your customers
2. Your prospective customers
3. Your competitors

When you ask yourself the following questions in relation to each group you will help ensure you are being noticed by the right people for the right reasons.

1. Your customers

Does your performance live up to the promises you made?
Do they live up to customer expectations?

Does their experience of working with you make them want to remain loyal?

Does your business live and breathe its values?

Are they likely to recommend your business?

2. Prospective customers

Should they trust you? Can they see evidence that you do what you say you will do?

Is it worth their time and effort investing in your services or products?

What do the images you use on your website and social media tell them?

Are you consistent? Do you show up when you say you will?

Remember that your prospective customers are likely making decisions about you and your service long before they even have a conversation with you; you need to be clear on the message you are sharing with them so they can gauge whether you are the right fit for them.

3. Your competitors

What would your competitors say about your business?

Would they refer clients to you if they would be better served by you as opposed to them?

Do they aspire to be like you?

Do they pick flaws in your process?

No other business can replicate your services and deliver them in exactly the same way because each person is unique. Competition is healthy; it shows that there is demand for the service or product that you offer and helps you stay at the top of your game.  

Why is this analysis useful?

When you start to explore what your business is to other people you will uncover information that helps you understand why you are attracting a specific group of clients, how to attract more of them (if they’re the right ones!) and what to do differently to dissuade groups of people who aren’t your ideal clients but still want to work with you (sometimes it’s not obvious to them that you’re not a good combination!).

Once you know how these three groups of people (customers, prospective customers, competitors) see you, you can make any necessary adjustments to how you show up and what you share. 

Do you need to be more specific about a service that you offer or showcase more testimonials from your ideal clients that highlight their experience of working with you?

Reverse engineer your message so that the right people find you; it helps you deliver to the best possible standard, which in turn supports your business to develop a healthy and enviable reputation.

10-second takeaway

Choose one of the three groups above and answer the questions (feel free to add more questions of your own). What did you learn? How can you use this information? If you’re happy to share we’d love to hear in the Facebook group.

Are you ready to revolutionise how you do business? Would you like to become crystal clear on how to share your message with your target audience? Do you want to take all the ideas out of your head and put them into a book? Why not schedule a personal brand and content strategy session with us? You could add up to six figures to your business in 2022 by supporting your clients to build the life and business they dream of.