A good corporate image is founded on substance, and its creation should be more than a cosmetic exercise. Assess your current image carefully, draw up an action plan to tackle weak areas, and then work hard to maintain your reputation.
Conducting an Image Audit
Find out how your audiences perceive you, using research methods such as questionnaires and focus groups. Combine this with an audit of your main methods of communication. Look for unintentional messages. What message is conveyed by a dirty-delivery van, for example? Examine every aspect of your work that communicates something about your organization, including premises, policies, and customer care. Ask yourself, “With only this to go on, what would I think of us as an organization?”
Producing an Action Plan
Having identified the shortcomings in your image, you now need to tackle these weaknesses by devising practical ideas and incorporating them into a workable action plan aimed at improving perceptions. Ensure that every action in your plan is assigned to a named person with the skills, the authority, and the time to carry it out. Give those responsible for implementation a sufficient budget, and agree a start and a completion date. Bring them together for a briefing; they need to be able to see the big picture and understand the reasoning behind the need for action. Ask for progress updates so that you can monitor implementation.
Maintaining a Reputation
It can take years to build a good image, but a reputation can be destroyed in seconds. Work to maintain your hard-won image. Show staff that you value them, treat them well, and communicate openly with them. Unhappy staffs tell their friends how dissatisfied they are, thus damaging your reputation as a good employer. Disaffected staffs also tend to provide poor service, which will erode your good image. Provide excellent customer care so that people have no cause to complain; when complaints do occur, make sure that you handle them swiftly, fairly, and courteously.