Building Your Reputation Bank Account

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Building Your Reputation Bank Account

• 2010 Fleet Safety Council Conference
• October 23, 2010
• Presented by Tricia Hellingman, APR, C.Dir.

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• We can afford to lose money even a lot of
• money. We cannot afford to lose reputation
• even a shred of reputation.
• - Warren Buffett

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• Companies are increasingly realizing that
• reputation may be their most important
• asset.

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Reputation is

• The overall esteem in which a company
• is held by its constituents.

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Another Definition

• It is the result of what you do, what
• you say and what other people say
• about you.

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Some Interesting Researchby The Reputation
Institute
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• Online survey of 26,000 consumers in
• G8 countries asking them to rate the
• reputation of 39 countries in different
• categories.

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Live

• 1. Canada
• 2. Switzerland
• 3. Australia
• 4. Sweden
• 5. Denmark

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Work

• 1. Switzerland
• 2. Australia
• 3. Canada
• 4. Sweden
• 5. Norway

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Buy

• 1. Switzerland
• 2. Sweden
• 3. Germany
• 4. Canada
• 5. Japan

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Invest

• 1. Switzerland
• 2. Sweden
• 3. Canada
• 4. Australia
• 5. Norway

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Visit

• 1. Canada
• 2. Australia
• 3. Switzerland
• 4. Italy
• 5. Spain

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Canadas Most Respected Businesses
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The Top 10 Canadian Companies With the Best
Reputations

• 1. Tim Hortons
• 2. Jean Coutu
• 3. Bombardier
• 4. Yellow Pages
• 5. Rona

• 6. Saputo
• 7. Canadian Tire
• 8. Research in Motion
• 9. Metro
• 10. Westjet

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Why is Reputation so Important?
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Benefits of a Strong Reputation

• Customer preference
• Ability to charge a premium
• Positive employee morale
• Recruitment advantage
• Increased employee productivity responsibility
• Support from regulatory agencies
• Support in times of controversy

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What Makes a Corporate Reputation

• 1. Ethics
• 2. Employees/workplace
• 3. Financial performance
• 4. Leadership
• 5. Management

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What Makes a Corporate Reputation Contd

• 6. Social responsibility
• 7. Customer focus
• 8. Quality
• 9. Reliability
• 10. Emotional appeal

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Building Your Reputation Bank Account in Case
of an Emergency Withdrawal
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How to Build Your Reputation Bank Account

• Ensure you always do the right thing
• Offer superior customer service
• Commit to excellent employee relations
• Treat suppliers fairly with respect
• Build your corporate brand

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How to Build Your Bank Account Contd

• Identify your key stakeholders engage with them
• Communicate your achievements
• Admit to your errors explain how you will
  address them
• Work with your industry association to raise the
  bar for your industry
• Distance yourself from the bad apples

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Building your Corporate Brand

• Conduct market research
• Ensure your corporate image reflects how you want
  to be perceived
• Have your CEO take the lead and set the standard
  for others to follow

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Identifying Key Stakeholders Engaging With Them

• Identify your key stakeholders
• Develop a plan to regularly engage with them
  through surveys, face-to-face and group meetings
• Ask them how you are doing and how you might
  improve

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Communicating Your Achievements

• Develop implement a communications and
  marketing plan
• Include a web presence, and regular written
  electronic communications
• Tell your story to community groups
• Cultivate media relationships, send out news
  releases and follow up
• Develop a crisis communications plan

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Some Examples

• Dofasco
• Maple Leaf Foods
• Walker Industries
• Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto)
• McDonalds
• Johnson Johnson

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For Companies in Challenging Industries

• Establishing a healthy reputation bank account is
  more difficult, because the industry is generally
  not well regarded
• Its even more important to strive for a good
  reputation
• A good opportunity to differentiate from your
  competition

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Challenging Industries

• Waste Management
• Mining/Aggregate Extraction and Processing
• Chemical
• Energy Companies and Facilities Oil, Gas, Coal
  and Nuclear
• Correctional Facilities/Halfway Houses/Addiction
  Mental Health

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Do Extraordinary Things

• Serve on community boards
• Sponsor unique events
• Demonstrate a commitment to environmental
  sustainability
• Develop unique partnerships (i.e. with police,
  CAA)
• Show you care about road safety

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• It takes about 20 years to build a reputation
• and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about
• that youll do things differently.
• -Warren Buffett

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Questions?