Three Stats on Reputation

Many people say they’re amazing communicators or claim they’re a “people person.” But professional communications in the real world is a different ballgame than how someone is with friends, in the neighborhood or even sitting around the water cooler.

And if you’ve spent any time in the field, you know that communications strategies are meaningless if they don’t align with and have an impact on organizational strategies. If your communications doesn’t drive bottom line results, no leader will listen to you.

Cold raw data is the currency of choice in every boardroom, but communications is notoriously difficult to quantify. Reputation? Trust? Virtually impossible to measure. There have been many great data-driven innovations in recent years to better track metrics and establish KPIs, but still, there’s always going to be a huge amount of subjectivity.

Nonetheless, there are three stats I like to share that mean something to the smartest leaders I’ve worked with over the years.

• 63 percent of a company's market value comes from its overall reputation (per Weber Shandwick)

• Nearly 70 percent of leaders report facing a true crisis in the past five years (per PwC)

• Only 1-in-3 have a crisis management plan in place (per PwC)

Without seeming too glib, this is why there is no shortage of business opportunities in this line of work. If you’re a startup founder, an established business leader or an icon of your industry, there’s no escaping these numbers. So the question is, will your company step up now to put in the investment needed to develop a deliberate and thoughtful crisis plan with actionable playbook? Or wait until after the storm has already hit to pay a premium for lower return? Although the vast majority of crises are manageable without becoming existential threats, there’s little doubt that the long-term damage is exponentially bigger when reputation is defended in the heat of the moment without a proper plan.

To me, looking at it from a business standpoint, both cases will always be there so I take no position. But I’ve worked for some soulless firms, companies and clients and I turn down as much business as I take in. I have no interest in taking every dollar just to feel bad at the end of the day about the work.

To readers questioning the need: the choice is obvious, will you make the right one?