The Top 10 Priorities That Guard Your Five-Star Reputation
Whether your
business is product or service-oriented,
the loyalty and dedication of your customers is greatly
dependent on your reputation. Your most effective sales force is your existing
customer base. Word-of-mouth or the personal recommendation, serves to create
an expectation that you must only live up to - rather than one that you must
create from scratch.
The assets of your business have traditionally included property, plant,
equipment, and your customer base.
Progressive organizations understand that the concept of business assets should
be expanded to include their good reputation. By being responsive to change,
having the ability to conduct a constructive dialogue with stakeholders, and taking
advantage of networked resources, the organization further extends their
tangible and in-tangible non-traditional assets.
Companies are increasingly adopting socially responsible business practices
based on sustainable development to ensure efficiency, stimulate innovation,
and create top-line growth.
This new approach to business requires leadership to re-think priorities with a
focus on a longer-term agenda. The socially responsible leader understands that
decisions made by management must focus not only on profit-making but also on
reputation-building. Fortunately the latter feeds the former.
These are the Top 10 priorities that will ensure a sustainable future for your
business or organization. After thoughtful consideration, priorities must be
established (re-established) and communicated to stakeholders. With every area
of the organization working in alignment with the vision, mission and values,
goals and objectives are more easily reached. To begin the discovery process,
use this list to honestly evaluate your
organization’s priorities.
1.Define and demonstrate your values.
A.What products or services do you provide and how do they serve to demonstrate
your values? You must first define your values and create your mission with a
clear understanding of the values you wish to demonstrate. If your products and
services
can’t be reconciled with your values, trust is eroded.
B.How will your products or services impact stakeholders?
Your stakeholders include stockholders, but the group also extends to staff,
associates, vendors and the community that is directly or indirectly impacted
by what you produce. Stakeholders become a far-extending community of concerned
parties.
C.What filter is in place for decision-making? Your filter is created from
having a clear understanding of your values and mission. Decisions are run
through this filter before being communicated or implemented.
2.Create a recognizable image.
A.What is your desired image? Once you have defined your values and mission,
you have an easier job of creating your image.
You know how you want to be perceived and recognized and consequently, you can take
action that will create the desired result.
B.Are your logo and promotional materials consistent and memorable? Your logo
is a powerful trigger that creates recognition for your organization. Careful
thought and
consideration should be given to your logo and how it communicates the message
desired.
C.Does your marketing support and extend the desired image?
Your marketing plan and program should serve to create and extend your brand
recognition. All activities, whether they are marketing related or otherwise,
should serve to create and support your brand environment.
3.Know your market and customer.
A.Who is your perfectly-aligned customer? You should be able to readily
communicate the profile of your perfect customer. By creating this profile, you
set the universal law of attraction into motion so that you can focus your
energy on customers whose values
and beliefs are in alignment with the organization’s.
B.What does your perfectly-aligned customer expect from your services? If you
are focused on serving a customer that is perfectly-aligned with your values,
by understanding how they expect to benefit from your services you create a
powerful business model.
You walk a mile in the customer’s shoes.
C.How might you extend your services to exceed expectations?
Once you understand customer expectations, you can begin to discover ways to
exceed them. It is important to maintain focus and know what you can
realistically do without diluting your energy.
4.Strive for perfection.
A.Is perfection expected? Perfection isn’t conditional. It must be the primary
goal regardless of circumstances. Every level of the organization should
understand what it means to perfect its product or service.
B.How are mistakes or errors turned into learning opportunities?
Mistakes and errors can be transformed into tremendous opportunities if they
are given appropriate consideration. The root cause can be mined for its
eye-opening insight into breakdowns in an organization’s systems and
infrastructure.
C.Who decides if it’s perfect enough? There must be one clear standard that is
demonstrated at every level of an organization. This standard applies
regardless of time pressures or circumstances.
5.Treat your stakeholders like family.
A.Do you understand who your stakeholders are? Stakeholders is a fairly new
term that extends far beyond an organization’s stockholders or owners. Even the
organization’s customers are stakeholders – they have a vested interest in the
organization’s continued existence and success.
B.Is community encouraged? For example, staff spends more of their waking hours
with fellow workers than they do with their own family. By encouraging
community through fostering relationships between stakeholders, the
organization creates loyalty, dedication, and commitment.
C.Are wealth creation and benefits shared fairly? Careful consideration should
be given to the distribution of wealth amongst those that are most instrumental
in creating it - intrinsically and consequentially. All members of an
organization’s family can expect
to benefit from the success created by sharing and progressing the agenda.
6.Contribute to your local community.
A.Is your local community defined and understood? For some local may be limited
to a 10-mile radius. For others, local will encompass the globe. In order to
contribute effectively to your local community, you must understand its
make-up.
B.Is community participation encouraged and rewarded? The organization should
create a win/win relationship with its community. The community provides it
with its means for creating success and it gives back to the community
appropriately by allocating and sharing its resources.
C.Do you understand how your local community extends globally?
While many organizations may limit their focus to a community that is in their
neighborhood, all organizations impact the global community in some way, shape,
or form. It is instrumental in progressing the social responsibility agenda to
initiate the dialog and take global considerations into account.
7.Make decisions considering intrinsic and consequential costs/benefits.
A.How are costs determined in decision-making? In the evaluation of any project
or initiative, there are clearly identifiable associated costs. There are also
consequential costs that can easily be overlooked if the decision-making
process isn’t designed to incorporate a full-spectrum of cost considerations.
B.Are decisions made with a long-term focused perspective?
Short-term motivations are generally limited to a strictly profit-oriented agenda.
In order to effectively incorporate progressive and socially responsible
initiatives, longer-term results must be considered and prioritized.
C.Does the organization tell the truth? There are lies and..there are lies. The
truth should provide the recipient with the information needed to make an
informed decision. If a decision is made based on inaccurate or incomplete
information, it is based on lack of the truth.
8.Manage the organization with integrity.
A.Are financial records maintained to ensure accurate and meaningful reporting?
Accurate financial reporting is critical to effective decision-making.
Financial policies should be employed to create records that provide the most
genuine and meaningful results of operations.
B.Does management emphasize being socially progressive? Most organizations
delay the implementation of a socially responsible agenda until the pain
associated with the delay is intolerable. By taking a pro-active approach,
social responsibility becomes the competitive edge.
C.Do the company’s products and services promote quality of life?
If the organization’s success is dependent on the degradation of society’s health
and welfare, integrity will be beyond the organization’s reach. Products and
services should be designed to contribute to human welfare.
9.Encourage innovation and continuous improvement.
A.How does the company capitalize on technological advancement? Technology is a
powerful tool that can bring an organization’s stakeholders into closer
proximity. In order to foster community, technology can be a great ally.
B.Are employees encouraged to increase competencies? Continuous improvement
requires a commitment to education and personal/professional development. The
organization’s compensation program should reward those that increase their
skills that can be developed and applied to meet customer’s needs.
C.Are resources allocated to research and development? It is tempting to focus
on today. In the competitive environment we operate in, a today-oriented focus
is critically shortsighted. Innovation and improvement must be supported with a
commitment of resources.
10.Tread lightly on the planet.
A.Is the workplace environmentally friendly? As was pointed out above, we spend
more time in the workplace than we do in our home-place. The environment should
be thoughtfully created to promote creativity, health, and productivity - with
an emphasis on the environmental implications.
B.Have products and packaging been developed considering life cycle? The
organization should have a clear understanding of where their products or
services will end up 10 (or 100) years from now.
When life cycle is taken into consideration, a product’s cost incorporates an
entirely new perspective.
C.Does the organization understand its environmental impact?
There is a trickle-down effect associated with just about anything we say or
do. This trickle-down effect could also be referred to as a trickle-out effect.
The environment is effected in seen and un-seen ways.
Your reputation is one of the most valuable assets of your business.
By incorporating a new set of values and priorities into what has proven to be
a successful formula on many levels, I believe that business will be the
platform for a new agenda - the Social Responsibility Agenda.
That agenda will solidify your reputation as an organization that is worthy of
its stakeholders’ dedication and loyalty.
Regardless of the size of your business, you make a contribution to the global
marketplace that impacts humanity with a rippling effect. As an organization’s
leader, you choose whether that ripple will be felt positively or negatively.
Even a small movement or change in a socially responsible direction can have a
dramatic effect. Every day produces a new opportunity to mold the way your organization
is perceived and to enhance your reputation!
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The Top 10 Priorities That Guard Your Five-Star Reputation have been developed
from the Social Responsibility Assessment TM (SRA TM) which is at the center of
Wholistic Business’ executive development and consulting programs designed for
small to medium-sized businesses. Your FREE Report - 40 Questions for Socially
Responsible Leaders - is available at http://www.WholisticBusiness.com. At
Wholistic Business, we believe that business literally makes the world go
around. It will be business owners
and managers that will ultimately change the world for the better.
Wholistic Business (http://www.WholisticBusiness.com), a division of MetaComm
International, LLC, is committed to assisting small to medium-sized
organizations in developing socially responsible business practices with a keen
eye on productivity and profitability. Gala Gorman,
MetaComm’s CEO, holds a Master’s Degree in Human Development, is a
certified public accountant, certified financial planner, published author,
executive development coach and business consultant with over 25 years of
experience.
The Social Responsibility Assessment TM (SRA TM) is a great way to establish a
baseline for your organization ensuring that future decisions and practices
move you in your intended direction. The SRATM includes a closing report,
prepared after a thorough review of the organization’s policies and practices,
which discusses practices currently in place within your organization and
suggestions for improvements or recommendations for new implementations.
Call today for your FREE initial consultation to discuss how your organization
will benefit from a Social Responsibility Assessment TM conducted by Wholistic
Business and from implementing socially responsible initiatives.
=====================================================
For more information, contact Gala Gorman between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Pacific Time at:
METACOMM MEDIA
A division of MetaComm International, LLC
(888) 886-4111 or (702) 286-4111
Post Office Box 1016
Boulder, CO 80306
E-mail: gala@metacommintl.com
Web site: http://www.WholisticBusiness.com
Source: Free Guest Posting Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
Gala
Gorman,
MetaComm’s CEO, holds a Master’s Degree in Human
Development, is a
certified public accountant, certified financial
planner, published author,
executive development coach and business
consultant with over 25 years of
experience.
Reprinted from
the site Articles Factory, in terms of the source site’s copyright terms.
Article image: Pixabay
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