Last Updated on February 15, 2021 by Bright Past
Have you ever heard the saying, “When you have lemons, make lemonade?” I don’t particularly like lemonade myself. In fact, I’m allergic to it. That being said, the point is well taken.
When you come across negative comments that have been made about you or your brand, it is quite disconcerting. You spend all of your time trying to build up your brand, putting money into the business and so forth all to find that someone is trying to slander you or at least put you in a bad light and damaging your reputation.
If it is serious enough, you can actually bring defamation charges and perhaps collect but this can take some time and money that you may not have to invest in legal fees. It is always best to handle it as positively as possible even in the face of adversity and among people who do not mean well at all for your brand.
Who are these people that make negative comments? They can be a number of different people such as former employees, disgruntled customers, people who waited too long to return something, or who knows?
It’s a sad fact, but some people simply have fun trying to criticize others and trying to bring them down. It is a true fact that if you do something great, someone will be around soon to criticize you and tell you why you shouldn’t have done it, how you should do it differently, or why you should stop doing it.
Don’t let that stop you from doing something great. Instead, hire a professional reputation management service.
Lemonade Recipe
Below are some steps you can take to turn a negative social media or reputation nightmare into a positive experience that will help you better market your brand and bring in new customers and leads.
1. Read or listen to the criticism or negative comment. Decide whether it is totally false, half true, or true. If it is true, address it and tell the commenter in a reply or email that you will be glad to remedy the problem if you have more details. Offer a coupon or 1/2 off on their next purchase. You may be able to win a customer and turn an enemy into a friend.
2. If the comment is totally false and slanderous, have your legal department address it with a friendly but firm email about how your company strives to maintain honesty and integrity and that their comment threatens this image. Subtly remind them that it is not protected speech to slander someone and that they should email your customer service rather than post online for all to see if they have a problem and you will make it right.
3. Be present on social media. Don’t let negative comments stagnate. If you allow a negative comment to linger too long, it may spread all over the web before you can put this fire out. It’s easier to control a small fire than a large one. Address all comments head-on or hire someone to do this for you. You don’t want to let these things go because you’ll never know how many customers you will have lost before you can address the issue.
4.Change your name. This is not always necessary but if something has been allowed to go around the web too long and your company has a terrible reputation, as a result, it’s time to learn from it and move on. Choose a new domain or company name, rebrand yourself under the new name, and plan new ad campaigns around the new branding. Put the old name behind you, but make sure you do a better job of guarding your brand name with the new identity.
Call the Professionals
It’s best to have a professional reputation management service on your side when you face a PR problem. They know how to use it to your advantage, rather than throwing up your hands and giving in. No matter how it started, make sure you have a reputation management service like BrightPast on your side for next time!
They can constantly monitor your brand and protect your social media and other accounts and keep your brand looking good to the world.
Remember, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!