What to do When Your Brand’s Under Fire

| September 23, 2015

What to do When Your Brand’s Under Fire

Mistakes happen. Sometimes an employee might mess up, sometimes you might fail to deliver results before a deadline, and sometimes you just can’t avoid problems and delays. These things are a common aspect of running a business. However, if a client is angry enough at the result, they might just post a bad review online. If several clients are affected by these problems, you might see several bad reviews online.

Today, the reputation of your company is very important. People rarely purchase a product or hire a service without looking into it online. If they find bad reviews, they’re simply going to look elsewhere. You can salvage your business reputation and turn a bad situation on its head. Consider the following points.

Pay Attention and Be Pro-active

It’s vital to act fast when you get a complaint, even if it’s a single one. It pays to investigate the matter thoroughly instead of just ignoring it. Don’t let the problem escalate and turn into a major loss. If more than a single client finds fault, you need to start taking the matter seriously, acknowledging that it might not be an accident. It’s important to respond to bad online reviews and complaints too. Reply to them and assure them that you’re looking into the matter.

It would also help to post small statements in your company website or blog regarding the matter. This will let your clients know your that you’re taking the situation seriously and giving their opinion due consideration. If you manage to resolve the problem, be sure to announce your findings and the solution on your company blog or website. This will only increase your credibility.

Understand the Client’s Perspective

Bad reviews can lead to ruffled features and a defensive attitude. It’s best to avoid that if you don’t want to make a mistake. Consider the situation from your client’s point of view. They’re paying you money to get a product or a service. They rightfully expect you to deliver good quality. For you, one mistake might mean some loss in revenue, but for your client, it’s substantial and significant.

If there are several people facing the problem, you can set up a dedicated hotline or webpage, even a Twitter hashtag to deal with it. That way, you’re communicating with your clients and getting a deeper understanding of the situation. This might help diffuse some of the negative attention you might get. If your customers see that you’re actively working on resolving the problem, they’ll be less angry.

Offer Solutions

Obviously, you can’t deal with the problem immediately and promise your customers anything until you’ve thoroughly investigated the issue. You can compensate for the trouble caused by offering a big discount, or a high value coupon. The compensation should be in line with the loss borne by the client. In fact, if you can afford it, you might want to offer something more valuable than the loss your clients suffered. That would go a long way to ensure that your business doesn’t get a lasting bad reputation.