Because It’s Out There….
There has never been a more important time to start managing that most precious of your company assets – your reputation.
The internet, and particularly Social Media, has handed the power to influence firmly back in the hands of the consumer. A potential customer is more likely to consult with his favourite search engine to find recommendations for a company to work with, making the positive testimonial a major factor in the business of getting new business. A customer who is dissatisfied is much more likely to spread the word about the poor service received at the hands of a company than a happy customer is motivated to tell the world about the good service they have received, so obtaining a testimonial immediately after the job has been completed is vital for the ongoing success of a business.
Negative feedback about a company’s performance, whether justified or not, will influence any potential customers who were thinking about dealing with the company in the future. It is virtually impossible to have negative remarks corrected or removed once posted, so the business-owner’s best course of action is to ensure that there are more positives than negatives by constantly requesting and posting positive testimonials about the company.
Anyone who has used Trip Advisor, the travel review site, realises that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. People can be upset by the most trivial thing and if they feel strongly enough about it will use any and all communication methods to vent their spleen. For instance a hotel can have hundreds of five star reviews from raving fans, then a totally incongruous review will appear, citing for example a spider in the bath as their main source of complaint. The sight of this spider is enough to make them forget about all of the other positive things about the hotel and prompt them to leave a one-star rating for the hotel.
Posting negative reviews is also a commonplace competitor trick to discredit a rival company, so in general reviews need to be examined in a broader sense and perhaps ‘averaged’ with the top reviews and the bottom reviews being discarded in the process to provide a more balanced view.
There are tools available that will alert a business when their company is mentioned, either positively or negatively, making them aware of how their brand is faring ‘out there’ and there are steps you can take to avert the potential commercial damage from these stinging barbs.
Most companies don’t do this, but the commonsense approach is to monitor your brand as closely as possible, and then take appropriate action when your brand is attacked.
If this is all above your capabilities, then give the Frogs a call; we have the technology and the motivation to help out.