Springtime brings budding trees, blooming flowers and new fauna. It really is a time of renewal.
This is also the time of year that many companies begin their strategic planning for the next year and beyond—your own opportunity to renew and refresh. Two great questions to ask during this process are: What is your company’s reputation in the marketplace? What is the level of trust in your brand—with clients, suppliers and employees?
The answers to these questions are directly related to how credible your company is and how your company behaves in the moment of truth. Credibility is born out of the character and competence of your organization and its people. Your brand trust and market reputation are directly affected by the consistency of behaviors exhibited across the breadth of your organization.
It’s difficult to gain a high level of brand trust and market reputation if you’re inconsistent in both the delivery of your services and how your people behave. Strategic planning and the execution of that plan across your organization are the keys to gaining “organizational alignment”—which is a fundamental principle of organizational trust.
In order to achieve market trust, organizational trust—credibility, consistency of behaviors and alignment—must exist first. A robust strategic-planning process is an annual, systematic way for an organization to author, renew and recommit to these principles, so you can be proud of the reputation your brand has.
ABC has developed the Top Performers annual publication (abc.org/membership/top-performers) to help our members establish brand trust and enhance their market reputation. We also have a partnership with FranklinCovey to provide Speed of Trust education (abc.org/membership/member-discounts/franklin-covey).
I encourage you to use these and other ABC resources to evaluate and enhance your brand reputation and market trust—and renew and refresh your entire organization.
