Online reputation management calls for patience and a lot of skills. Negative comments, bad reviews, untruths etc spread like wildfire whereas positive reviews attract meagre attention.
Prior to the advent of the Internet, the average consumer could complain only to his friends, colleagues and neighbours about your company. Today, if a consumer has a social media profile and a large number of followers, his complaints can spread everywhere rapidly.
Businesses must be extra vigilant to maintain their online reputation – if it were to stay and survive and grow. For this you must draw an effective and pragmatic online reputation management plan.
You should be ever alert to find out who is saying what about your business. Your sales team may be running facing embarrassments closing deals or your call center could be responding to negative inquiries.
Google your company name at regular intervals and study the results they throw up. Investigate each negative mention to learn who’s saying what and immediately take suitable remedial action. Never ignore or overlook a bad review.
Your organization must make some operational changes. For example, your product may be faultily designed, the packing may be sub-standard, your marketing team may be not adequately knowledgeable, your internal staff may be less courteous etc.
Whatever the problem, quickly fix it as one bad online review can cost you a lot of sales. Robust and constant communication with your clients will take you a long way in improving your online reputation.
Address each problem with appropriate and convincing messages. If you have already drawn up your operational plans and your employees are well-trained in handling all standard problems, you will have something constructive to say when people complain.
If you can not solve the problems immediately, let your clients know the steps you are taking and when you expect the issues to be resolved.
Use Google Alerts to track mentions of your company on the internet. If you can afford more money, consider using an online monitoring tool such as Sysomos.
Evaluate every mention on the Internet about your company and classify it as positive, neutral or negative. Positive mentions must be acknowledged and the writer must be thanked. Get in touch with the person posting a negative comment, investigate the problem and take suitable remedial steps. If the complaint is serious and authentic, do not hesitate to publicly apologize. If the bad review is false and posted by a disgruntled past employee or some unethical competitor, take legal steps to teach such mischief-mongers a lesson.