When a negative comment comes your way, it’s important to have a good offense. Build up positive feedback to counter negative feedback. Keep updating with fresh, positive content to make anything negative slip down the search results.
In business, reputation is the key to success. It can be impossible to stay in business if your reputation is tarnished. Here are some ideas to help you develop and maintain a good public image.
Keep sales or secret promotions quiet. This is to avoid complaints, which can affect reputation. It would be a mistake to post the details of how you have resolved a complaint, only to receive lots of complaints aimed at getting freebies from your company.
Focus on your offensive strategy as it pertains to handling negative Internet content. With a lot of positive feedback, it can help to drown out a negative or two. Make sure your content is always fresh so that older, negative things fade to the bottom of search pages.
If you find untrue information about your company on a website, ask the site’s owner to remove or correct the information. If you have solid proof of the libelous nature of the information, most owners of the site will promptly take it down.
Keep an eye on social media pages. According to Arnold Worldwide, over half the customers expect answers to their comments and questions on social networks. Reply to questions within an hour if you can. Because many other businesses are not quite that vigilant, your response time will help you to stand out.
If you don’t have the time or resources, find a company to manage your reputation. From social media to public announcements, there is a lot that goes into managing a public reputation. That is why it is helpful to have someone assist you with these things.
Pay attention to how people perceive you on the Internet. You never can tell when a company might get a negative result on search engines from a dissatisfied client or a person who simply doesn’t like you — or your company. Monitoring search results yourself will help keep you on top of the situation and thus able to put out little fires as they pop up. Do this a few times a month.
If you read a negative comment about your business, it is understandable to get resentful at the writer, especially when the writer is stretching the truth. It is best to remain calm and professional. When someone knows both points of view, they are able to make their own opinion.
Run your business social media accounts in a professional way. They say a lot about your business. While it’s good to be somewhat personal so you don’t seem robotic, you don’t want to go too far with things.
Even when a customer has purchased something from your business, follow up with them. It may be that their issues do not arise until later down the road. When you check in with them you can help them work out any problems they may be having.
Keep private sales out of the public eye. This is very important, especially if you get a complaint and then offer a discount to help remedy the situation. One tip is to never post the steps you are taking to resolve a particular complaint, because you are bound to get other complaints seeking the same gestures.
You must know in what places your company is being discussed, and these places have to be monitored. Learn which ones apply to your industry. Respond respectfully to all complaints and criticism, and post links along with the positive comments.
Reputation is a major asset for a firm. When it wavers, business can start to decline. The keys to successful business is to understand how simple steps can be applied towards maintaining a positive reputation. Refer to the above information to do just that.
If you sell anything, try to offer money back guarantees with no strings attached. All of this is essential to solid customer service. When you allow a customer to make a return, you may lose profits. However, you gain points in good corporate reputation.