Protecting your Reputation Online

by Sep 21, 2017

I was scrolling through my newsfeed the other day on Facebook when I saw someone had shared a very damaging email response they claim to have been sent by a local company. The email contained a seemingly polite response to an enquiry, to begin with, but ended in the business owner telling them prospective client to take their business elsewhere but with profanities.

As you would imagine his email got quite a response from the friends and family of the recipient and in a very short time the post got over 20 shares and plenty of comments. The company in questions Facebook page was tagged.

Surely this means Social Media can damage my reputation?

It is true that people will take to social media to voice their frustrations when it comes to being a consumer. However, this is not something I would perceive to be negative. Before social media became popular people would still bad mouth companies, except it was all done behind closed doors where the business owners could not know what was being said or defend their business.  Social media offers business’s now to do just that.

How To Respond to a Negative Review

If you find yourself at the harsh end of negative public feedback, do not hide away. Interact with the author of the review in a positive manner.

Here’s a few Dos and Don’ts for negative feedback.

Do’s and Don’t’s

  • Do thank them for taking the time to leave feedback
  • Do try to look at the review objectively – is there anything you could have done to stop it getting this far
  • Do keep the lines of communication open and polite
  • Don’t let your feelings affect your response
  • Don’t become confrontational with the author. You can be firm without becoming confrontational
  • Don’t just assume this is going to have a negative effect on your reputation.

The last “don’t” is important. People assume all a bad review does is damage reputations. However, I have seen business owners benefit from bad reviews as it brought more attention to their page and they have gained new clients. Not because someone left them a bad review but because of the way it was handled.

If you would like assistance managing your online reputation please contact me today on 07507 138349 or email me on info@queenbmarketing.co.uk