We all know about how a poor reputation impacts sales. With the nature of consumers and the technology accessible today, no business can ignore their strengths or weaknesses. I heard a really good advertisement on the radio that made a great example of how a brand can overcome their reputation in a tactful and relevant way. As small businesses, you probably have a few areas to improve and this might be the inspiration for it.

Who knows about Cricket cell phone service? Maybe you’ve heard of them, as they were one of the first carriers to go big with their unlimited-usage plans, appealing to the needs of users who talk on the phone a lot.They’ve had a few good competitors to keep their growth in check, Boomerang [defunct] and more recently, Boost Mobile.

It’s understandable that with sudden growth, comes instability; and their reputation and word-of-mouth recommendations have stunted the growth of the company. AT&T also experienced this when they added millions of iPhone users to their network, but thankfully due to Apple’s exclusivity with AT&T, they survived and learned how to support these phones.

They earned the reputation as a second-rate carrier that has spotty service. (At least they were affordable, right?) This quickly spread, virally, as people with Cricket phones would declare to their friends, “Sorry, I’m on Cricket and the service blows.” Ever since their reputation was rated poorly and filled with customer complaints, there was little they could do to earn it back.

Today, on the radio at least in the Phoenix market, I’ve heard an advertisement for Cricket that goes something like this:

[Setting: Hiking in the mountains or otherwise a rural area]

Man: What a great day, the view, the sun and nature.
Woman: (Agrees)
[ Cell phone rings ]
Woman: It couldn’t be –
Man: What? How could I be getting a call now?
Woman: You have Cricket, you’re not supposed to have service here–
Man: Yes, all the way out here–
Woman: It’s your mom. Don’t answer it. How can she reach us out here?
Man: (Anguish)  I… I need to– Hi, Mom!
Man: (Sigh.)
Announcer: Cricket now has expanded 3G coverage and […]

In this example, we have a brand (Cricket) taking their weakness (reputation of service) to connect with their audience. They’re mending years of brand damage by demonstrating their accomplishment of a renewed 3G coverage area. Their ad didn’t really stray from their brand, as their sales offer is the same, offering no contracts and unlimited service.

You might have heard some of the less than positive remarks from former users about us. We’re still earning and managing our reputation one customer at a time. A few of those concerns have been around price/cost, learning curve of the software or frequent software updates. We’ve made many strides in addressing these — and on their merit — are valid concerns for small businesses. Next week, I’ll be answering some of the questions and concerns of the community about what we’re doing to deliver a great experience for customers; perhaps, leading by example of what entrepreneurs should do to strengthen their reputation.

That said, the Cricket campaign was helpful as it informed me about the efforts the company has undertaken to improve service for users. That’s the bottom line in handling any reputation management issues, is to realign the expectations to delivery. This might be potential opportunity for previously-defected customers of your product or service. You have a CRM for managing acquisition and retention of customers, right? There are many benefits in listening to customers … let it pay off by marketing relevant, helpful messages to those customers who defected and earn their business back.

I’ll leave you with one question: What’s stopping you to face the reputation of your brand or industry? Dish it in the comments and let’s chat about it.

[Photo by cjc4454 on Flickr]

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