Damage to your business reputation is often out of your control. But, the damage that occurs is often less about what happens and is more about how you react to it. Disney allowing its Mandalorian stars to verbally abuse people on social media, and then firing a woman (Gina Carano) for speaking her mind about it, is a good example of how the wrong reaction can cause a reputation disaster. The events were bad enough, but Disney’s response to it is what wiped millions off their share prices. Here are a few examples of business reputation damage, and a few comments on how you may avoid them.
Negative Comments About Your Product
Savvy consumers do not bother to read the 1500 positive reviews online that you paid for via a Chinese click farm. Instead, they look at your negative reviews to see if people are consistently griping about one thing or another. It is your job to respond to these reviews, if possible, with selling points.
Never argue with your negative commenters. There are two types. There are those that tell outright lies, which seem damaging, but savvy consumers can easily spot because they do not echo the thoughts of other people. Then there are legitimate concerns, and they are the ones you should respond to, but never fight, argue, or even contest their point of view. Instead, you add in your selling points.
If somebody complains that the discs you sent were scratched, then tell them that your company just bought a disc scratch remover, and you will be running your second-hand discs through it in the future. Are people complaining about your delivery times? Then explain that your prices are so low because you are using economy delivery services, but that you are adding faster shipping options in the near future.
Competitors Running a Damaging Campaign
The trick to these is to not react at all. Unless you are a blue-chip company where the bad press will wipe millions off your share prices, then there is no need to respond. Damage control is the best you can do.
Do not respond or try to fight back because you shine a light on whatever you fight against. The wild rantings spoken through the night are all the more noticeable when somebody else is shouting and telling the ranter to shut up.
Damage control often means limiting the other person’s ability to harm you. For example, you could moderate the comments on your website to remove negative comments, or you could turn off the “Likes” system on your YouTube videos until your competitor stops spamming down votes.
Limit damage, and go about your business. Continue your marketing campaigns and weather the rough time. If your competitor starts making slanderous or libelous claims, then consider legal action, but make sure you can prove that they caused serious financial harm, or the courts may not hear your case. Otherwise, ignore the problem, and it will go away pretty quickly, especially on social media where news stories rise and fall as fast as bottle-rocket fireworks.
When a Product Malfunction Causes Serious Reputation Damage
Blister packs were invented due to over-the-counter drugs being tampered with. Quite often, regular drugs were stolen and often replaced with something that didn’t work, or that was harmful. Drugs companies were seeing massive losses due to the tamper scandal, so responded with the introduction of tamper-evident blister packs that showed people if their pills had been messed with.
The drugs companies involved didn’t tackle the problem with words or with a PR campaign. They almost turned the crisis into a selling point. They could now sell a product that is guaranteed to have not been tampered with thanks to their new blister pack packaging. The moral of the story is that sometimes you can turn a problem into a solution that doubles as a selling point.
Your Staff Are Deemed to Be Too Under Trained or Unqualified
There are some situations where this is a problem and some where it is merely a hindrance. For example, having under-qualified people in your consultancy business is going to cause a lot of problems. However, having under-qualified people in your fast food restaurant may not be such a big deal.
If staff qualifications and training matters, then try to plump up their qualifications and their CVs with a few small business courses. Try to pick a few things that look good on LinkedIn. Try to promote the qualifications and experience your staff has, perhaps in your “About Us” section on your website.
If you run a business where your staff qualifications are a big deal, then give your staff appropriate titles. For example, nobody expects your junior executive to have that many qualifications. If you simply cannot afford more qualified people, and you are taking a lot of heat for your staff qualifications, especially from your better qualified competitors, then you need to shift the focus to areas where your competitors struggle and/or have weaknesses. You are not pointing out your competitor’s weaknesses; you are simply promoting your strengths that just so happen to be their weaknesses.
For example, If they are very expensive, then promote the fact your company offers good prices and value for money. If your competitors are slow, highlight how your service is quick, or how you always hit your deadlines. Reframe the problem and redirect attention away from your under-qualified staff. Your competitors may have better qualified staff, but there are plenty of things you can do better than they can do.
