1319147102 building small business reputation that matters
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BUILDING A SMALL BUSINESS REPUTATION
THAT MATTERS
Market credibility has become vital in an era when even a single online critique can
threaten sales or partnerships. To establish and maintain credibility, small businesses should
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INTRODUCTION
Often misunderstood, market credibility is not the same as brand recognition. Instead, it is the
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businesses, an effective credibility strategy starts with reciprocity with all stakeholders. A stake-
holder is any person, group, or organization that can affect or be affected by the organiza-
tions actions, objectives, and policies. The following is a list of the most common stakeholders
with which every small business should try to build credibility:
The relationship between a company and all of its stakeholders should be carefully managed
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OFFLINE TRUST
Business Credibility is built from the ground-up which means starting with those areas that can
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business credibility:
ESTABLISH BUSINESS CREDIT:
Any business that has had to raise working capital or fund growth realizes the importance of
establishing business credit. Before providing loans or other sources of debt capital, lenders
require small business owners to demonstrate their willingness and ability to repay credit obli-
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their business credit to ensure access to capital.
Establishing business credit starts by obtaining a D&B D-U-N-S Number. Many organizations
Wal-Mart and the U.S. government among them will only do business with companies that
have a D-U-N-S Number.
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ONLINE TRUST
The advent of electronic purchasing and the need to keep customer information safe has
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holders will require most small businesses to build a comprehensive online presence.
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that is stable and does all its business dealings above board, because it has nothing to hide
from the marketplace.
As your company operates in the marketplace over time, a record of company policy is
amassed in publicly available internet archives. Substantial policy changes should be includ-
ed, favorably shaping the evolving online story of your company.
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Too much irrelevant content especially too many third party advertisements and promo-WLRQVFDQUHGXFHWKHDSSHDUDQFHRIZHEVLWHFUHGLELOLW\$VFRPSDQLHVJDLQZHEWUDIFWKH
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anything, contain offers on their own page. It depends on the objectives of the site, but in the
end it is likely not worth it.
Display third party seals online. Studies have shown that displaying reputable seals on your
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Better Business Bureau.
Advertise security and privacy practices. Visitors are very wary about providing personal and
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to your customers. Typically, a privacy policy will point out how website owners will use a visi-
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ensure safety and privacy.
Call Now to Speak to a
Business Consultant - (855)-444-3095
D&B Credibility Review
https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/ -
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CONCLUSION
Unfortunately, business credibility is not a plateau that can be attained. Instead, credibility is a
companys evolving market reputation deserved and undeserved in any combination that
requires vigilant monitoring and management. In order to steer that reputation in a direction
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integral part of a companys overall business plan.
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the business standing in the marketplace, trust must be built with stakeholders before it can
be established and maintained with customers. Although building credibility with such a di-
verse set of individuals and businesses may seem like an overwhelming task, myriad resources
can be accessed to aide small business owners in sustaining market credibility.
Companies like Dun and Bradstreet Credibility Corp. wereestablished to help small business owners implement many
aspects of their corporate credibility strategy with products
like D&B Self Monitor, which helps owners manage their busi-
ness credit. The D&B product lines are designed to support
a companys ongoing reputation management strategy by
building credibility and opportunity, two factors that will ulti-
mately drive sales.
D&B CREDIBILITY REVIEW
Call Now to Speak to a
Business Consultant
(855) 444-3095
https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/ -
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D&B CREDIBILITYREVIEW
Call Now toSpeak to a
Business Consultant
(855) 444-3095
https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/https://www.dandb.com/credibility-review/