Reputation selling

When you buy from a reputation seller you buy a part of his brand identity and thereby his reputation. These companies offer in many cases some sort of service to their clients where they screen you to see if you would fit this identity. You pay for the reviewing and/or for the right to link your brand with that of the reputation seller. Typically these companies call their products ‘labels’ or ‘certificates’. Some ‘awards’, ‘approved by’ of ‘partnership programs’ setups are similar and could be seen as reputation sellers as well. Examples are: Quality label AgriMap Innovation, Anysurfer or the US Green Building Certification

Paying to be part of a club is something that can be found in many fields. But essential to this business model is the fact that such a provider must have earned enough credibility. If this credibility is not based on historical achievements and successes then most likely they aren’t really selling reputation. A label or certificate sometimes is just mandatory and if your company is one the few that can provide those then you are just selling a service. Auditing companies like TUV America and AcsTestlab are good examples of this.