Online Reputation Management: Part II – Responding to Bad Publicity

February 9, 2011

In our previous episode, I briefly discussed the basics of Online Reputation Management (ORM).

Go ahead; I’ll wait for you to read that article first in case you haven’t yet… : – )

Now that you have the basics out of the way, let’s discuss responding to not so good news/reviews/publicity.

Even if you’ve done your best job on a project or put your best foot forward in the customer service department and have done everything right, there may come a time when you face negative publicity. This could stem from several reasons like a misunderstanding, a mistake made by either you or the client/customer, different points of view, the customer just doesn’t like you after all, the list could go on and on – unfortunately!

So what do you do when you receive bad publicity?

1. Process Before Reacting

Before you get angry, defensive and spew off words you might not mean and regret later, take a deep breath and think about the situation. Know the facts. Here are a few questions that can help you with the fact finding process:

Could this be a competitor spreading lies?
Could the person be misinformed?
Is it just a misunderstanding that can easily be cleared up?
Did I make a mistake?

2. Now What? Should I Respond?

Here are my thoughts: if I think responding will clear up any issues or blatantly false information, then yes, I’ll respond. However, if I feel that by responding, the fire will turn into a roaring blaze and burn me, I won’t respond. In addition, if the impact is minimal, I don’t think it’s necessary to cause further upset.

3. Wait, One Final Note – HOW Should I Respond?

Remember that deep breath I told you to take earlier? Well, take another one before you put pen to paper (or in the online case, finger to keyboard).

The last thing you want to do is cause more problems and bad press. So here’s how you could respond to negative publicity:

Be honest! This is a no-brainer though right?!
Talk about how you can resolve the issue and make it right, especially in the case of clients/customers.
Ask to have incorrect information retracted (ensure to send any supporting evidence of the truth).
Do a bit of research first on the individual/group and maybe you can find out how best to respond.
If you don’t want a public debacle, take it offline and/or meet in person. Sometimes it helps to see people eye to eye, literally.
If you run out of options or ultimately don’t want to do damage control on your own, seek a professional who can help.

Stay Tuned for Part III

Next up, I’ll share some tools you can use monitor and manage your online reputation management.

Your turn…

Have you had to deal with negative publicity/bad reviews/ugly press? How did you handle the situation? Please comment and share.

About Kesha Brown

Kesha is the Creative Director and Principal Web Designer at her company XD Web Solutions who specializes in helping small businesses and organizations maximize their online presence. Go ahead and follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

4 Comments to “Online Reputation Management: Part II – Responding to Bad Publicity”

March 31, 2012 at 9:13 pm
didomenicor22 says:

I’ve found this very interesting and has a good stuff for the readers and designers. I would be glad to recommend the post for its quality content. Nice post.

business reputation management
didomenicor22 recently posted..Having the last word can be costly

[Reply]
February 3, 2012 at 9:20 pm
Adalia John
Twitter: adaliaj
says:

I have a friend whose name was slandered on rip off report and other areas of the internet, by a disgruntled client. This client understands SEO and was able to dominate the first page of Google with her slander. It didn’t matter that this was the one and only negative piece of information or that it’s a lie … some peeps reacted to it and turned away from working with her. We are not sure how many prospects turned away because of the rip-off report because her business continues to grow. She did use a company to manage her reputation but that report still shows up on the first page of Google.
Adalia John recently posted..Make It a Habit: 9 Powerful Reasons to Drink Water

[Reply]
Kesha
Twitter: xdwebsolutions
Reply:
February 4th, 2012 at 12:47 am
@Adalia, I hate to hear that. Some people really know how to mess up others’ reputation and it’s sad, especially when it’s not true. Gladly your friend got someone to help her with it.

Thanks for sharing Adalia!

~Kesha

[Reply]
May 13, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Online Reputation Management says:

Very nice question to consider.And your tips is so valuable to notice and your content very unique.Thank you very much for your ideas to post comments.It is true that Reputation Management is exactly what can manage our reputation and which helps tremendously in getting your site ranked in search engines.Thanks for the informative post.Anxious to hear the rest of your findings.Visit my website
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[Reply]