Branding and Reputation

A company's reputation is a valuable asset that is used to market their product and help distinguish themselves from their competitors. This is very much like a personal reputation, where we try and present ourselves in a manner that is marketable and different from the person next to us.

When it comes to banking, there are many different companies to choose from and as a consumer, I rely on reputation to save me time from researching companies as well as making it more likely that I will be happy with the service.

Chase has a reputation in the market for being convenient as well as safe. On ads they boast of having friendly customer service and easy to use online banking. They separate themselves from others in the market by advertising themselves as a company that is secure and has anti fraud teams always working to make sure your money is safe.They brand themselves by making the Chase logo recognizable at many sporting events and applications. The brand is associated with safe, reliable, and easy banking.

Before coming to college, I did my banking at a smaller bank back in my hometown. This was convenient for me when back at home and I really did not consider any other bank because it was where my parents had set up my account and have done their banking their. However, when coming to college, I knew that I would have to switch banks because I would need access to my money. In champaign, there are many banks to choose from and I really did not want to walk into each one and research which one was best. Instead, I asked my friends where they would recommend and I ended up choosing Chase.
There are a few reasons why I chose Chase. I knew about Chase bank because they are everywhere. They have a reputation for having many ATMs and being convenient. They have many ATMs not only in Champaign, but also near my house, so when I came home, I knew that I would not have to worry about changing banks again.  The next reason why I chose Chase bank was because my friends told me that the online banking was very simple and easy to use. I personally liked hearing this because I did not really want to have a tough time learning something and setting it up. Another reason why I chose to bank at Chase was because a few of my friends who have lost or had their debit cards stolen all told me that Chase had a very good anti fraud team and were very understanding. One instance I remember was a friend of mine had his debit card stolen and Chase called him before he had noticed it was gone to let him know that various large charges were being made. They cancelled the card and send him a new one within a week with no penalty. My friends all concluded they were happy with the service and quality of Chase's customer service and felt that their money was safe. As a customer of Chase for the last 4 years, I can say I am happy with their service and they have lived up to their reputation.

Reputation

I believe that the workplace is perhaps on of the most important places to develop and maintain a professional reputation. During my as an undergraduate, I have been part of the aviation program here at the University of Illinois. From the first day of class, the chief pilot announced to the class that flying an airplane is not only demanding, but very many more precautions and thought must be taken while in college. This includes drugs, driving, and alcohol. She acknowledged that while we were mere 101 students at the time, in a few years we may wish to become flight instructors at the university, and our resume starts with our reputation. Because aviation is such a small program, I took these words to heart and modeled my life around building a reputation that I would be happy with asking for a job once I received an instructors certificate.  The way I did this was not only showing up to class on time and doing well on exams, but also making good decisions outside of class like not drinking the night before a flight or getting into trouble.

At the beginning of the semester, I successfully gained employment at the university as a flight instructor. While I realize that I have groomed my reputation around the airport as a student, after gaining employment, I feel the need that it is now even more necessary to build my reputation further. The first reason for this is I want my colleagues to respect me and know that I take the job very seriously. This is not only because we have the same goals in educating students, but also because if we see each other in the professional world(maybe the airlines), they will know that I have a professional skill set. The next reason I take strides to better my reputation is because I have students. I want them not only to respect me, but I want them to take me seriously. For many who have not flown a plane, their instructor is the expert and I want them to know that the advice and lessons I give them are worth something and they should really consider them. I also don't want my student to feel afraid to ask question and I want to be known as someone who is there to help them. This is important because flying at times can be very high stress and sometimes having someone to count on really helps. I want to be that person. I do this by always being available for help and providing them with accurate and meaningful instruction.

The only instance I can think of where I abandoned my reputation for immediate gain was when I was a student. It was my roommates birthday and wanted to go out for the night. I knew I had to fly the next day, but I really wanted to go out with my roommate. I ended up going out that night and ended up calling my instructor the next day to tell him I was way too hungover to drive, let alone operate an airplane. My instructor was disappointed at me, but seemed to understand. For the rest of the semester I made sure that I made better decisions and always kept school a top priority.

Principle-Agent

A few years ago I was a waiter for a family friends bar/grill a few years ago. I was responsible for taking orders, maintaining the dining area and a little bit of bar tending. Furthermore, my boss expected me to always be proactive in the interaction with customers, not only to make sure customers wanted to keep coming back, but also because many of the customers were the boss' friends. 

While working, I  would answer and work for two principles; my boss and the customers. While my boss always expected me to treat/serve every customer the same, there were definitely times where I would perhaps go out of my way to avoid conflict. There were many times where the customer would try and get something for free, like sides or even drinks they said they never got, and rather than engaging in the conflict, I sometimes would just believe them and just get them what they wanted. Looking back, I probably would describe myself as a pretty crappy employee and I certainly would never do this now. But when I think about why I chose to do what I did, I really just wanted to avoid conflict and not get in a skirmish with the customer. My boss really trusted me, so I don't believe he knew what was going on, but I still feel even today that I betrayed that trust.

One time I had difficulty with the customer was when I had served a table some drinks and when their bill came, they said they never had those drinks. I poured them those drinks, so I really was not going to just write it off and let them have my drinks for free. Our conversations eventually led to my manager being called over, only to find out the customers I was arguing with where his friends from college. That put me in a very bad/awkward position because I was basically telling him his friends were trying to steal from him. Eventually he got them to pay but I really was even more careful around customers.