One of the facts about the internet is that once something is uploaded, it will have the possibility to stay there and be expanded or manipulated. It could be a user’s comment. It could be a message sent out by the company. One wrong move and lead to a catastrophic disaster.
“People have different standards of being the customer; we might not be able to fulfill everyone’s needs. Some will complain, and often it is posted on the Internet. This will definitely cause damage to the public reputation of the company. It is the PR’s job to help and to cool down the dispute.”- Mr. Lin from Internet Marketing team of Feeling 18C.
We need to take precautions for these sorts of disasters to happen to us. To achieve this, we should always have an emergency sector within the company to decide how and when to respond. The Internet Marketing team can take charge of this job due to the familiarity of the internet. We should also constantly monitor what is being said about the company. We want to be able to control the heat to avoid fire.
The things that you should monitor about your company are your company’s name, your brand, your products and the main executives in the company. Where? They can be searched upon Google Alerts, Yahoo Alerts or even twitter search.
Optimization:Optimize all of the content your company provides on the web, to avoid any disputes that can be made based on what is written. Places like, Official Website, text site, videos… Subjects such as language error, sensitive issues…
Engagement:If there is a dispute on the web that has a uprising popularity, steps should be taken to cool down the heat to avoid fire.
How:1. Measure its accuracy, see if they are legit (determine the truth behind it)
2. If not, provide accurate facts as response
3. If yes, carry it onto discussion
4. If things go serious (if it is spreading outwards to other forums or internet platforms), be ready to write the response on your blog or social page
5. Remember to be honest, show the transparency and listen to your customers
If the disputes are solved, those stories may be positive to the company. People who were satisfied with the way it is solved will become your company evangelists.
· When a bad mistake is really made, and needs to be openly apologize
· They are either misunderstood/ or misstating the facts
· When the bad comments grow bigger and bigger
· When people are enraged and say things based on untruthful facts.
How to Respond:
· Listen
· Remain Calm
· Be Honest
· Speak like the customers, not in corporate tone · Be sorry and promises for improvements
This is the reason provided on the website:
25 http://outspokenmedia.com/reputation-management/you-deserve-your-badonline-reputation/
1. The law has been broken
If you have hurt or assaulted someone, you should be in blame for the sins that you have done.
2. Any negative comment is News WorthyAny issue that concerns the customers health, rights and safety is a piece of information that needs to be spread out. The more that it is hidden, the more fascinating it will become when it gets spotted out.
3. Lying to yourself does not solve the problemIf the event has happened and you are not taking serious response into it, then you are lying to yourself that what had happened is nothing and shouldn’t be taking into consideration. Your businesses will fail due to those reasons.
4. Lack of Quality ControlProviding consistent poor-quality service is a major factor that leads to your bad online reputation. The customers gave you a chance for improvement and you did not take it to
consideration, it will be your loss. You deserve your bad online reputation.