Reputation

An interesting topic came up last week during a conversation I was having with a colleague of mine. Given our profession as consultants we have clients. The question raised was “to what degree is our reputation based on our clients own reputation?”

The question wasn’t raised out of a political or ideological reputation, but out of a moral one. A defense attorney doesn’t really worry about the reputation of his client due to the adversarial nature of our judicial system. However, in a business environment do other potential clients consider the reputation of our existing client base or past client relations?

We often seek recommendations and referrals from our clients which create, bolsters, and foster our own reputations. But can it work in reverse as well? Are we damaged by the actions taken by our clients? Obviously if a potential client has a questionable reputation at the onset, then you should really deliberate and consider bringing them on as a client. But the question was posed to consider if an existing client starts to conduct himself in a less than scrupulous manner after you have taken him on.

I think the answer is found in the quality of our work. A good defense attorney will live to defend another day based on the quality of his litigation. I feel the same is true in the manner with which we provide our service. A disgruntled client has the potential to adversely impact the reputation of the firm. However I do not believe that a client, who has said nothing good nor bad, but about whom has developed a questionable reputation himself, can have any impact whatsoever.

Moreover, do your job. Do your job well. Let the chips fall where they may with regard to success or failure. Control that which is in your scope to control. The disgruntled client mentioned above could be that way based on three situations. The first situation is due to an error on your part. The second situation is due to an error in execution on his part. The third is due based on external outcomes which are determined neither by preparation nor execution.

In the end all you can do is say, I did the job I was hired to do. If you can honestly say that, then your reputation will be just fine.