Moving Words – Reputation
Written by Timothy Brady.
“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” – Jeff Bezos
Building your business reputation is something that requires time and effort. The best reflection of your reputation is what your customers tell others about you, your employees and the experience they had while utilizing your moving services.
Why does reputation matter? A positive reputation allows your company to own a distinct advantage over your competition. Savvy consumers, especially while seeking a moving company’s services, will look long and hard for the company with the best customer service and the least number of complaints. Without the sterling reputation to back up your branding efforts, you have little to nothing of value to offer your customers.
The skills to build a strong bond of trust with customers provide a mover the competitive advantage in crowded markets—one that can be maintained over time.
Other important factors in building and maintaining a top flight reputation have a decided impact on employees, and on a business’ ability to attract the best and the brightest. In this day and age, where finding and keeping well-trained, quality-driven van operators and movers is increasingly more difficult, a moving company that has the highest laurels awarded from its customers is going to attract employees and contractors who desire to provide the same or higher level of service.
So what are the principles for developing and growing a positive reputation?
Number one, especially in the moving business, are your PEOPLE, the employees and contractors who are the front lines to your company’s honor and respect as seen through the eyes of your shippers. Carefully selecting people who have the same drive to provide the quality you desire is the first step to building a reputation.
Number two is your PRODUCT AND SERVICES. Have high levels of quality set as parameters in the products you provide, from the cartons and paper in which a shipper’s valuables are packed to the quality and cleanliness of the pads and trucks you use. And in the services you provide, include the extra steps taken to protect a residence during the move, right down to the belt buckles your movers wear to avoid damaging anything they carry. It also includes how your agency phone is answered, the way your move coordinators treat each shipper, how your claims department handles a damage claim.
PERFORMANCE is number three. How your team works together to make each move an uneventful move for the shipper, in which details are handled with the precision of a fine clock; no stone is left unturned and worst-case scenarios have solutions before they occur.
Four is PURPOSE; or where your company’s commitment to making the world a better place is focused. This includes environmental as well as community objectives. How green is your operation; how do you recycle things like cardboard, oil, and even the trash generated by your office? What are you doing within your local community to make life better for your neighbors? What are you doing beyond specialized, superior moving and relocation services that make people stop and take notice of a deed well done?
Are you tracking the results of your reputation building efforts? Are they successful? Do you have an executive staff position that is directly responsible for building and maintaining the attributes necessary to have a great reputation? You invest all that money and time in developing your brand and marketing to the world; shouldn’t it also be equally as important to ensure your reputation is in concert with your branding?
Finally, to quote Warren Buffet, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
Good advice.
