A big part of reputation management involves listening to customer feedback, engendering the ability to sift through comments and distill the common themes, and reshaping the organization so it can respond effectively. While it is the case that some users will willfully flame a brand or product, these people are in the minority. Most of those who post to blogs or customer complaint sites have something legitimate to say. You may not like what it is, but you ignore it at your peril. Just as neglect contributed to the situation, more neglect will not help repair the damage.
Instead, put your reputation management efforts into overdrive. Consider appointing someone who will handle customer issues proactively -- and visibly -- using a full range of media and channels to meet your customers on their turf and terms. There are many examples of prominent brands that have successfully gone back to the drawing board and effectively reinvented their customer service models in the wake of reputation-damaging incidents.
For example, after Jarvis experienced his widely publicized "Dell Hell," the company responded, to not just his specific concerns, but to those of other customers as well. It took a while for such a large corporation to develop the reflexes to respond nimbly to concerns raised in an online forum like Jarvis' blog, but a year after the initial furor, Dell rolled out its own consumer-facing blog, Direct2Dell, which it has since used to discuss products and customer service issues -- and even to issue the occasional mea culpa. In addition, Dell invested heavily in reputation monitoring and social media outreach and engagement. It's probably fair to say that the whole Jarvis ordeal -- from the embarrassing revelations about deficiencies in its products and customer service to the transformation to a more customer-centric culture -- caused Dell some pain. Taking it on the chin in public hurts, but to Dell's credit, management listened to what customers were saying and made proactive moves to right the ship.
The Dell example has been cited extensively, but it's important to point out the difference that a couple of years makes. Today, it's difficult to write anything about Dell that doesn't prompt swift analysis and response from one of the company's many online customer advocates, even if it's just to engage in back-and-forth banter (as I myself experienced earlier this year).
Cable operator Comcast is similarly one of a new crop of brands that is using Twitter for customer relationship management purposes (a list of nearly 200 brands using Twitter and other social media platforms can be found on the social media marketing wiki curated by former Forrester Research analyst Peter Kim). If that's where some of your customers are -- and it may be only a small but noisy portion of them -- then that's where you have to be as well, if only to understand the situations your customers are facing and participate in the ongoing dialogue.
For brands, the challenge in having a voice in the dialogue, particularly when conversations take place in real time on platforms like Twitter, is finding the right tone. Social media channels are not the place for defensiveness, legalese or marketing-speak, and their use will only add fuel to the fire. Further upsetting already sensitive customers will only serve to exacerbate the problem you've set out to address.
While every company's situation will be different, making a blanket prescription difficult if not meaningless, there are customer advocacy rules that apply across the board:
Being proactive is rule No. 1. Don't wait for important information to come to you; go out and find it. Invest in monitoring technology that will help you identify where conversations about your brand are taking place and what people are saying. The goal is to not only identify problems before they burgeon into full-blown epidemics, but also to locate advocates for your brand (what Rohit Bhargava has termed "accidental spokespeople") with whom you can build relationships that develop into extensions of your marketing efforts.
Being relevant is rule No. 2. Communities, whether ad hoc or dedicated to a specific theme or topic, form around shared interests and goals. If one of these communities revolves around service issues about your brand, make an effort to understand what is motivating the members, what their needs are and how you can supply them with the right information when they need it. Most importantly, find out why they have sought help from each other first rather than coming to you. That information can help identify failures in your service and sales channels that might require broader attention.
Being honest and authentic is rule No. 3. Social media channels offer the possibility of putting a real human face behind a big brand. Still, if you represent a brand that is wading into new waters, communicate to your audience what you're trying to do and be humble as you're doing it. There are bound to be some hiccups along the way, and a good dose of humility can promote forgiveness in a way that arrogance never will.
Finally, be open and responsive. Stimulate dialogue and interaction. That is the stuff upon which lasting relationships are built. Establishing relationships can help your organization earn positive attention, and that in turn can translate into both brand and search engine equity -- a virtuous cycle that can propel your business forward in this age of conversational marketing.
Noah Elkin is managing partner at international search-inspired digital agency Steak.
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