As a business owner, you know your reputation can make or break you. You can lose your customers’ confidence with a poor reputation, leading to declining sales and less revenue. In addition to losing former customers, you can lose potential consumers who may be less inclined to give your brand a try after hearing negative feedback about your company.
It can be even more difficult nowadays since the internet makes sharing information faster and easier than ever before. If your business is struggling with negative customer feedback and a poor reputation, keep reading below for tips on how to turn around your brand’s image.
1. Use Negative Customer Feedback to Your Advantage
Every time a customer expresses dissatisfaction with your services or products, use it as a learning opportunity to improve. Don’t discount or ignore negative feedback because it may be more helpful than you imagined. Collect customer dissatisfaction (DSAT) data and analyze it for ways your company may be failing to meet certain expectations.
DSAT analysis could assist with finding common issues and eliminating them. For instance, you may find out that customers have problems with your:
- Customer Support
- Products or Services
- Company Policies
Remember, customer reviews are essential to maintaining a positive reputation, especially online. In fact, customers look at reviews and trust them just as much as they would trust the word of their friend. Always pay attention to what customer reviews are saying about your business if you want to remain relevant.
2. Utilize Tools Made for Online Reputation Management
Did you know that there are plenty of online reputation management tools on the web? Many are even free to use!
For example, Google Alerts is a free tool that you can use to track important information about your brand. Create personal alerts for your business and receive consistent updates about it. But monitoring your reputation goes beyond Google Alerts. There are other tools you can use for tracking the other aspects of what makes up your reputation online. These include:
- Reports of what others are saying about your company online
- Mentions of your brand with both negative and positive comments networking
- How your competitors are doing for comparison
There are plenty of online reputation management programs and services available. Ensure that you cover the basics of these various aspects that determine your overall online reputation.
3. Hire SEO Specialists
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Although most individuals think about Google search results and keywords, SEO could also help improve your brand’s online reputation.
For example, you can use SEO to boost positive results and bury the negative ones where they won’t be seen. When potential customers search for your brand, they’ll mainly see positive reviews and feedback, not negative ones, building their confidence in your company.
Additionally, you could use SEO to improve the content on all online platforms. When you have higher-quality content on social media (or other online platforms), it helps strengthen your online presence and gives your company a sense of authority on a topic.
Accomplishing these tasks requires daily observation and attention to detail, so it would be beneficial to hire SEO specialists to make your life easier because they will have the knowledge and wherewithal to handle the job.
Take Control of Your Reputation
Use the above tips to help foster a better relationship with your clients and build back your positive standing.
But, of course, make sure you’re building a business that deserves a good reputation! If you’re providing products and services that customers love, your job of strengthening your brand’s reputation will be much easier and more satisfying when you accomplish your goals.
