Given their ubiquity, it is easy to assume that firms with a strong brand have been around for ever, but leading brands don't arise overnight or by chance. 

Most of the ways firms gain a good reputation are old fashioned and obvious. Providing a well-designed product or well-delivered service is the only solid foundation, built upon by staff who listen to customers, take criticism to heart, and respond appropriately.

Of course the ways in which firms can listen to their customers constantly change. Decades ago letters of complaint or congratulation were the norm, today the bulk of customers still expect to talk to a person over the phone when they have a problem. Then there are the additional possibilities offered by focus groups, web sites, email, instant messaging, web visitor call-back, user forums and the like.

IBM last month discussed an example of how new technology can alert firms to potential problems with their products.

According to IBM, in the automotive sector it typically takes almost nine months for news of a mechanical fault to reach the engineer who designed the part.

If a firm can shorten that time by even a few weeks, and bring out a fix earlier, it can do a lot to polish its brand, save money, and keep customers happy. Fewer faulty vehicles will be made. More customers' cars will be fixed before the problem surfaces. And the cost of recalls will be reduced. The same principles extend to manufacturers in every sector.

IBM noted that many users will murmur disgruntledly among themselves before making a complaint. Its researchers have thus set out to tap the online forums where grievances are often voiced.

Using a search approach dubbed Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA), a firm can unite its own records of repairs and complaints with keyword searches of sites and blogs.

The technology, embedded in a product called IBM Quality Insight for Automotive, is currently being piloted with US truck makers. Not every firm will be willing or able to be so proactive, but some steps in this direction are more simple.

Today, many firms have a web site that is, in effect, the firm shouting at its customers. Typically, there will be pages and pages of content about the firm, but often a single page of contact details or an unfriendly response form.

Firms should ensure that visitors who arrive at a site to talk to a firm, complain or ask pointed questions, have as efficient an experience as those browsing.

As well as keeping you informed about emerging problems, it may avoid the need for a tow truck to pull your firm's broken-down brand out of the ditch

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