Your reputation

In chapter 11 of "Measure what matters," the author mentions that your reputation is "the sum total of your relationships with all your publics." In this way, that means that it is how your brand is viewed by the public. Your reputation effects whether people are going to buy what you're selling and if you're considered a trustworthy brand. The author mentions that your relationship is extremely important, which should be obvious, but no matter what you do, it is still possible to end up in a crisis situation.

A big part of knowing what people think of your brand is monitoring what is being said about your brand. That can be on the news, blogs, social media or wherever people say things about your brand. Monitoring the mainstream news is not enough, because if something bad about your brand has reached that point then its time to go into crisis management. The first step is listening to what your customers are saying. If they are complaining about something find out about it and fix it.

The moment you stop listening to your customers or people who work with you then that is a crisis waiting to happen. You have to always be aware of what is being said about your business and what the public perception of your business is. Your customers have to trust you and believe in you. That is the best way to avoid a crisis and defend your reputation, which is the key to your business' success.