Online Reputation Management: Beyond Damage Control
Online reputation management is an important part of managing any business, but you must know how to manage the reputations of business that are not your own. Companies around the world are in desperate need of professionals who will help with reputation management, but you may not speak their language. Imagine how much more effective you will be when you speak someone’s language, and you may break the language barrier as you reach beyond damage control to offer great service.
#1: Damage Control Is Shallow
Damage control for any business sounds shallow when you contact angry customers. Customers who are unhappy with your business do not want to be placated, and speaking to someone as if they are a child does not help. You must engage the customer on a deeper level if you want to make a difference when you speak with them about their concerns. Your plan for customer service must change when you are faced with someone who is unhappy.
#2: Offer Better Customer Service
The original problem is customer service, and your unhappy customers are more likely to respond when you offer better customer service to make up for previous mistakes. Your business must retain as many customers as possible, and you may redeem an earlier experience that upset your customers so much. Simply responding to a poor review is not enough in today’s world. Customers will find better places to shop, and you must convince customers to come back to you.
#3: Responding To False Claims
False claims of poor customer service online are troubling for any business. The language in each post must be interpreted correctly, and the spirit of the review must be challenged openly. You cannot ask a review site to take down a poor comment, but you can meet a poor comment with the facts. Your ability to write a factual response in a foreign language will help you shut down angry customers who make false claims, and poor reviews that are disproved are likely to be removed.
#4: What Happens When You Are in Crisis Mode?
A major reputation problem must be met with calm reflection. You cannot deny all claims from customers until you have looked into the situation yourself, and you cannot respond with anything other than brutal honesty. Claims that are false must be met with strong language that refutes negative claims with facts. Negative claims that turn out to be true must be met with a conciliatory tone.
You may respond to every negative comment with an apology and an offer of better customer service. Turn that response into a press release, and you will have the makings of an online reputation recovery project. You must work with every customer you can find to correct the problem, and your business must no ignore the problem publicly. Customers are more likely to respect you when you are honest about your failings, and American customers will consider coming back to give you or your client a second chance.