For the past two days we’ve discussed how to search the web for information that might damage your online reputation. Now the question is what do you do if you find something?
Has the person, or organization, made valid points? If not, ask them, nicely, to make corrections. If they do have valid points, you need to address them in a calm and professional matter. Sometimes just showing you care enough to address the situation will go a long way to calming a situation down. Most people view all companies, no matter what their size, as uncaring, unfeeling monolithic entities, the mere fact you will show concern will usually help matters.
The most essential key is to listen. No matter how right you may think you are, you can sometimes be blinded by being too close to a situation, and there may be an angle you did not think of when coming up with your policies. It never hurts to hear an outsider’s point of view when it has upset them enough to act out.
At worst, they’ll stay angry, and it will be hard for them to do more damage then they’ve already done. In most cases the person will calm down and post something thanking you for attentiveness, so even if you don’t come to a total conclusion, you will at least showed you cared enough to react.
The absolute last line of defense should be replying in your own company blog. possibly escalating the situation to where people perceive you as picking on the complainer. This can be the worst possible outcome to any situation as it could motivate more people to posting more negatives about you.
Just always remember to keep calm, though it can be difficult to do when it seems some one is attacking your company.
