Reputation is Repetition

The first time I heard this expression, I had no idea what the person was talking about. Years later, after toiling in many different jobs in consumer affairs for a long time, I finally got it. It’s how you perform repeatedly over time that builds your professional reputation. This is something to be tuned into whether you’re hiring at your office or deciding which businesses to patronize.

I thought of the saying the other day when deciding where to buy a sandwich for lunch. Who makes the best chicken salad sandwiches, week after week, month after month, year after year? The Ambrosia Bakery on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco. Consistency and quality are what keep lots of us going back.

The sandwich maker meticulously scoops the chicken salad onto the freshly baked whole grain rolls, and with the precision of a surgeon, she tucks the lettuce into the roll on all four sides, every single time. I love watching her in action. She’s proud of her sandwiches and the bakery’s reputation, and it shows.