Coming Clean: Repairing a Damaged Reputation
Ouch. We all make mistakes. Some of them are small, and some of them are mighty. It really hurts when your brand makes a mistake, whether that be through poor customer service, or a marketing oops. Warren Buffett once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” No joke! It takes a long time to build a good brand reputation, but only one bad decision to make what you’ve built come crashing down.
You may feel like you’ve ruined yourself forever, but all is not lost! Follow these steps towards building trust in your brand back up again.
Fess Up
Once your mistake or mishap has come to light, don’t try to cover it up, brush it off, or dodge responsibility. It’s best to address it head on, rather than wait for speculation to take hold on social media and in the news. “The best thing is to come clean and own it,” says Lauren Wiseman, entrepreneur, marketing specialist, and contributor to bizzmarkblog.com. “Start by apologizing to your audience and explaining how things went wrong, but don’t make any excuses or defend yourself.”
Surveys say loyal customers are 5.6 times more likely to forgive you for making a mistake.
Know Who You Want To Be
It may be difficult to repair your reputation if you’re not even sure how you want people to feel about you. Having a clear picture in mind can help. Put into words things you want your audience to know about you, and how you want to be thought of (compassionate veterinarian, skilled in-home nurse). Choose a set of character traits and work towards those traits in your brand strategy.
If you build a strong reputation in the first place, it’ll be easier to make repairs when necessary because you will already have a good foundation of trust.
Formulate a Plan
It’s not enough to merely acknowledge that you’ve messed up. To rebuild, you need to publically outline steps you’ll be taking as a company in order to right whatever wrong has been done, and to make sure you can avoid making the same mistake in the future. Brand rebuilding should be calculated and deliberate.
You may want to employ experts in personal branding, public relations, social media marketing and image consulting, if necessary. A well-planned reputation repair strategy can make or break you.
Monitor Progress
You’ll need to set benchmarks and milestones to achieve so that you can assess your progress in repairing your reputation. Track feedback and progress toward your desired brand so you can analyze the reputation your earning. If you find you’re a little left of center or not moving fast enough, correct your strategy.
Use Social Media
Most of your customers are social media users, and so much of PR and word-of-mouth marketing happens online. Part of your plan should include a social media strategy so you can react in a timely manner. Watch out for negative feedback and social media mentions so you can deal with them professionally. Watch all channels like Glassdoor where employees can complain, and Reddit, where users have the ability to write anonymous comments so you can spot a crisis looming before it breaks.
Often, if you deal with a problem professionally and successfully, you’ll save your reputation and turn your brand supporters into fans for life!
Be Human
Your customers (and haters) are real people with real emotions and concerns. Approaching trouble from a human standpoint could win you points.
Know Your Loyalists
Even when there’s a crisis or blunder, most brands will still have loyal customers and followers. Identify them and make a conscious effort to engage with them. Make sure they know just how appreciated they really are. They could be some of your biggest allies through the rebuilding process.
Be Fast
Be quick to respond to complaints or problems, especially when they’re posted online. Apologize openly. A happy customer tells five people, an unhappy customer tells 10, but a customer who’s had an issue resolved favorably tells 20! This is a great way to really build great fans!
Sometimes Rebuilding Is Painful
Repairing a reputation is no easy task, but some have it worse than others. Worst case scenario, there are those that may have to start all over again in their field, working for agencies below their capabilities to re-earn the trust of key stakeholders in order to rebuild credibility. Some decide to relocate, change careers, or change names, depending on how bad the damage is.
Just remember to be patient. You know that building a reputation doesn’t happen overnight, but rebuilding a damaged one is a very long road.