All companies start as someone’s idea, maybe a small group of partners, a family business, a couple, among friends. And when businesses start, the image of the company, the brand, the reputation go directly from the people who initiate it. It is a strong footprint, that remains, lasting, because it comes drenched with that energy that created the business in the first moment. 

Surely it was your case also when you started your business: you yourself attended to your customers, and you did it the way you wanted to do it, leaving your life in it, working for each client to take away from you, your company, the best the memories and … of course, that he came to buy you again.

When the footprint of the company begins to fade

Then your company started to grow. Cool! Just what you wanted: maybe open a second office, hire more people, delegate functions, open departments. The prize of all your efforts. Your business is growing.

But this growth brings with it an invisible part: the difficulty of directly controlling, as you did before, the service your customers receive. And, with that, the reputation of your company begins to be also in the hands of others.

It is then when the trace tends to be diluted, when the emotional impact that you transmitted at the beginning begins to stop having its original force, if you do not put enough effort and attention in which each one of the members of your team, for small or big that this team is, know thoroughly, maintain and apply in your day to day the philosophy of your company.

The responsibility of the commercial and the reputation of the company

And I refer to the commercial area specifically because it is one of the posts that begin to appear in every company when it grows: the ‘commercial representative’, the seller who packs the street with the product for Make it known to new buyers and make billing grow.

If for a moment you stop to think that the commercial representative is the face of your company in front of the client, and you value it from that point of view, then you realize the immense influence that the commercial representative has on the reputation of your company .

Hence the fact that your business philosophy, mission, vision, and all the concepts and values ​​for which you want to identify your company or brand, must be the total understanding of your commercial team.

If your sales representatives are not a true reflection of your company and its values, your reputation begins to take significant risks, whether you see them or not, but they are there, dormant, waiting for any failure to unleash the famous ‘reputational crisis’ ‘”And corresponding loss of money.

When the achievement of objectives tightens, the values ​​are omitted and your reputation suffers.

Generally the management model applied to commercial teams is that of payment for the achievement of objectives. If your commercials sell, you pay them a commission, if they do not, then do not and you get rid of the subject. It has been a practice carried out for many years, a bit with the aim of forcing the salesperson to produce money, and on the other hand, saving the company from having to commit to paying a salary to a person who is not productive.

A double-edged sword, and very sharp indeed. One of the edges points towards the production of money. You want them to sell a lot, so that they earn a lot, and by winning them, the company wins. And that’s fine

However, the other edge is that if you have a commercial that is very pressured to achieve its objectives, you could at some point feel enough “between the sword and the wall” to resort to certain tactics and actions that, while they can Help you close more sales and achieve the goals you ask, can also seriously compromise the reputation of the company.

And this is where you see the consequences of a brand footprint that is diluted as the company grows. Without wanting to, and due to a need of the business itself, the growth of your company entails the obligation to train each of its members in the fundamental values ​​that you want to identify your business over time.

Without adequate training and follow-up, the footprint disappears

And it is important to always keep it in mind in order to avoid, not only the loss of clients but also the possible legal repercussions that the practices of unusual commercial or administrative actions could represent.

Always try to ensure that your sales representatives maintain the same work philosophy that you had when your company was born. That they attend your clients of the same, or better way than you did it at the beginning. And always make sure to monitor, within your company, all those areas of the business that face the customer.

Also keep in mind that all employees, not just commercial ones, in one way or another, are the face of the company in front of the client at some point and anyone can ruin a business or spoil a relationship without noticing, from the secretary, the transportation driver, one from the administration department, etc. When someone, whatever it is, does something to the detriment of a client or potential client, it is clearly harming your business.

For this reason, the training and monitoring of relationships with your client are so important, at all levels, within your company. Only then can you ensure that your reputation remains in your hands, regardless of the size of your business.