Isn’t reputation management just PR spin?

If your attempts to manage your reputation are dismissed as spin, then you’re not doing it right. You can’t control what people think, but you can control what your business looks like. This way you have some influence over what the public might think.

Reputation management starts with doing things well

The best way to build and maintain a good reputation is to make it part of your business decision-making. This includes everything from major changes, such as a introducing a new product or service, to everyday actions, such as how you respond to customer enquiries. If you stop to consider the impact on your reputation, there’s more chance of having a positive influence.

How to earn positive customer reviews

If you’re selling things online, here are some tips from e-commerce specialists on how to generate positive reviews. They’re designed to avoid misunderstandings or outcomes that don’t meet a customer’s expectations.

  • Ensure your product descriptions are accurate and include what customers might want to know, not just what you want to tell them
  • Provide detailed measurements for product dimensions, weights or clothing sizes
  • Be open and current about your delivery times and costs for each customer’s location
  • Make it easy to find and understand your returns policy
  • Check the condition of each item before you send it out
  • Use packaging that prevents any damage and provides a positive opening experience, such as highlighting recycled materials or including a personal note, a small treat or a little bit about your story

If your business provides services rather than products, it’s more about building and maintaining a good relationship with your customers. Suggestions for earning positive customer feedback in online service businesses typically include:

  • Responding quickly
  • Making sure you understand their needs correctly
  • Treating them with respect
  • Providing progress updates
  • Delivering a great result by the agreed time

When a customer lets you know they’re delighted with your service, it’s a good idea to ask them for a quick Google review or a testimonial you can add to your website. Make this process as easy as you can for them. You can also let them know you’d appreciate any referrals if they have friends or colleagues who might benefit from your services.

How to manage good and bad reviews

The way you respond to online reviews can communicate as much about you and your business as the review itself. Specialists recommend replying to reviews in almost all cases.

You can maintain your connection with existing customers by thanking them for positive reviews and letting them know you look forward to helping them again.

It’s just as important to publicly acknowledge negative feedback. It shows you care about your customers’ experiences. An apology goes a long way, and so does some indication of how you’re putting things right or taking steps to prevent a repeat experience for future customers. If you don’t want to say too much in public, getting in touch directly in an appropriate and respectful way can often help you to understand more. It can even change the story your customer might be sharing socially about you.

How to track and improve your online reputation

To hear what people are saying about your business, you need to be constantly listening. The sooner you’re aware of online content about you, the sooner you can start managing it well. Here’s a high-level approach to help you get started.

Audit

Start with an initial audit. Google your name and your company’s name to see what comes up. If you have anyone answering customer calls or replying to emails, ask them to list feedback examples.

Plan

Assess where your online reputation is at and why, then develop an improvement strategy. If you find particularly damaging information and you’re not sure how to proceed, you can always get some guidance from a professional. One bad review or news item can sit around on the internet affecting your business for years to come.

Act

Let staff know how you’ve used the information they helped provide. Make it as easy as possible for them to continue gathering live data for you, so it doesn’t interfere with their work.

Get your story out there by sharing positive messages through your website, blog, social media pages and business-relevant sites like LinkedIn. Try to include keywords that customers would use when searching for your business and others like it. This will help your messages rise above the isolated negative stories from some time ago.

Continue to monitor and measure your reputation. Set Google alerts to let you know when new content about you appears online. Keep a record of what actions worked and what didn’t, and update your strategy where it’s needed.

You can’t control everything about your digital reputation

It’s worth keeping in mind that no matter how well you try to manage your reputation, some things will always be beyond your control. Sometimes the best you can do is to minimise the impact and move on.

Fake news is a good example. Anyone can write anything about your business and share it with the world. If it’s defamatory, you might be able to take action to have it removed, but otherwise it’s there for good. It still pays to consider why that person chose to post fake news about you. Is there some underlying experience you could address? If it’s just someone like a malicious local competitor, or their anonymous friend, there may be little you can do.

Extreme individual reactions are another example. One person, perhaps just having a really bad day, can completely spit the dummy about something people would normally consider minor. They’ll slam you with a one-star review. They may also exaggerate what happened, including the personal impacts, and employ excessively emotional language. They probably have no interest in contacting you directly or ever hearing from you again. They just want to vent their frustrations and have people support their view online. It’s done, it’s out there and there may be very little you can or could have done to prevent it. But you should still pause and check to be sure.