The horse in the picture stands out, doesn't it?
It looks to be "The One!"
On a scale of one to ten, it is a ten...
In recent weeks I have come to a disconcerting conclusion…
It has manifested in recent speeches I have given to businesses across the UK.
Let me explain.
At the start of the speech about reputation, I ask the audience the same question “How important is reputation on a scale of one to ten?”
Everyone says ten and sometimes even eleven!
I then ask, “Right now where is your business reputation and in fact your personal reputation?”
Most come back with a seven for both the business and personally.
The conclusion, therefore, is that we all have (me included) work to do!
As Lesley Morrissey and I outline in our recent book The Reputation Gap the real business we want (great clients, who pay us what we are worth and are generally referred to us) only usually appears when we have a glistening ten for a reputation.
Therefore, it is logical that the audience members would want to take action to improve their reputation and quickly attract the type of client who is a ten.
Wouldn’t you agree?
I then offered a simple ten-minute complimentary scorecard that would accurately pinpoint where they might need to improve and perhaps take the necessary action.
Yet…
And here is the staggering thing.
Ten minutes.
For free.
To help them get what they wanted.
It’s a no-brainer, isn’t it?
Yet less than a handful took up the opportunity.
Consistently on each occasion!
The conclusion can only be one thing.
Most individuals and businesses are happy to have just an OK REPUTATION!!!
Happy to be just a seven.
They might talk a game but are not prepared to take even ten minutes to help themselves.
And the truth is I am staggered.
I have spent thousands of hours, and hundreds of thousands of pounds in the last twenty-seven-plus years of my business career to improve myself because I know how important it is.
Yet so many can’t be bothered to spend ten minutes for free!
And they will be the same people who will come up to me in a networking meeting bemoaning their business, either the lack of it or the type of prospects and clients they attract.
It is disappointing.
What’s the point, Peter?
Your reputation in business is the only real thing you have even though, ironically, it is also in many ways intangible.
The higher the reputation the more you can charge for your services.
The choosier you can be of the type of clients you work with.
You can take the additional time necessary to get things right.
… and have a better life.
That’s why my co-author Lesley Morrissey and I wrote the book The Reputation Gap for this very reason.
How about you?
Are you a seven?
Do you want to be a ten and all that means?
Three things you can do…
Check out the programme we are running on the 27th of June we have a couple of spaces left.
Or perhaps get a copy of our book here.
Or at the very least take ten minutes out and take this scorecard "How to grow a reputation that delivers a more profitable business..."
Just ten minutes…
Just say'in
Until the next time.
Peter
P.S. You do want to be a TEN don't you?
