Of all the things that go into the equation to create an organisation’s reputation, what is the one factor that has the highest impact, lowest cost, most lasting impression?

Customer service. Alex Harris, editor of Reputation Reports, writes that while companies spend significant sums on advertising to tell us how fabulous their products are, or throw money at the community cause du jour and bleat about it at every opportunity, savvy customers buy on so much more than company generated information. If it is a big purchase, they read everything they can, including customer service ratings, the online complaints boards and owner forums to see what current customers are saying. Because how a company treats it current customers is indicative of how they will in the future.

Read all about it at http://www.reputationreport.com.au/2009/08/monitoring-cgm-wotnews-vanno-and-getsatisfaction/