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As long as you have a successful business or brand, people will always have something to say about it. And when it comes to online reputation management, the goal is to create positive engagement with your customers for the life of your business. So if the discussion about your brand swings negative, here are a few online reputation blunders to avoid.<\/p>\n
1.Ignore negative commentary \u2013 when you ignore negative comments or accusations about your brand, anger towards your business can fester, especially when there are a lot people rallying against you. Years ago, Nestle\u2019s brand image was severely damaged by Greenpeace\u2019s campaign against them. If they hadn\u2019t ignored the problem at first, much of this likely would have been avoided. When it comes to your brand, this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you should respond to every negative comment. If someone is trolling your public discussion boards, then you can give their remarks a pass. However, if the negative post appears credible, you need to address it.<\/p>\n
2.Reacting emotionally \u2013 if your reaction to negative comments is to fire back with negative comments, it\u2019s certain to make you look bad. Customers want to do business with a brand that is professional. If you react emotionally or negatively to a customer online, who\u2019s to say you wouldn\u2019t do the same in real life to the person reading it?<\/p>\n
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While you may feel angry by a negative comment about your brand, don\u2019t let your emotions get the better of you by posting something you\u2019ll later regret. Instead, calm down, compose yourself, and follow these guidelines.<\/p>\n
\u2022Figure out what the customer really wants \u2013 every customer wants their problem to be resolved, but how they want their issue fixed will vary. Some customers want an apology, others want a refund, and some may simply want the product they ordered but did not receive. Read the negative comment carefully to figure out what would make your customer happy, then proceed in the following manner.<\/p>\n
\u2022Imagine you\u2019re responding to your grandmother \u2013 you would never say something rude or hurtful to your grandmother, and you shouldn\u2019t to your customers either. When a customer comes to you with a problem, rephrase it back to them to ensure you understand it correctly, and then explain how you\u2019ll solve it. And just like you would if your grandmother came to you with a problem, be sensitive and do your best to help.<\/p>\n
\u2022Stick to the facts \u2013 when engaging with a customer online, the initial comment can quickly turn into a back-and-forth discussion. If this happens, don\u2019t get off-topic when addressing the problem. The customer may try to engage you in a he-said she-said battle, but avoid taking the bait. Respond with facts, stick to the matter at hand, and don\u2019t get caught up in personal accusations.<\/p>\n
\u2022Turn the negative into a positive \u2013 negative feedback is an opportunity to improve your business. So be honest with yourself and, if there\u2019s truth in the comment, take a good hard look at your company. Did the commentator point out a glaring problem you can improve upon? Remember, a business is nothing without its customers, so it makes sense to do your best to please them.<\/p>\n
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From restaurants to sports equipment vendors, no business is immune from negative feedback online. With more and more people spending hours on the Internet every day, customers are quick to voice their opinions about businesses. And their comments aren\u2019t always positive. You might wonder how to respond when you receive a negative review from a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1369,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,35,54],"tags":[77,78,76,75],"class_list":["post-1367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-philosophy","category-social-media","category-work-habits","tag-comments","tag-customers","tag-feedback","tag-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/feedback.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eitnetworks.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}