BEING LIKED IS SERIOUS BUSINESS

Ten Steps for Repairing and Protecting Your On- line Reputation

By Kate Zabriskie

“The worst customer service experience ever! The bed was dirty, and the bathroom had hair on the toilet seat. My dog refused to enter the room. He slept in the car. I don’t know why I didn’t do the same thing. Do not EVER stay here!!!!!!!”

“If you are offered a job at this place, run! Do not walk to the nearest exit. This company is an asylum. I have never worked with a more dysfunctional group of people in my life.”

“There are a lot of fake reviews on this site. Anyone who has ever been here knows there is no possible way on earth a real customer would say this place was anything but a pit. Enter at your own risk. You have been warned.”

Ouch! Those hurt.

And there it is, right there in black and white for anyone and everyone to see— the naked truth: what someone thinks of your product, your service, or your organization.

Bad reviews can bite, wound, and sting. Worst of all, a mountain of them can appear in a matter of seconds. So- cial media, it’s a wonderful thing, until it turns against you.

1

So, what’s a person to do when his or her online reputation is suffering at the hands of others? Plenty.

Step One: Take a deep breath. You can fix it. Not overnight, but you can fix it.

Step Two: Get over any hurt feelings or embarrassment, and do

2 56

Step Four: Automate. Sign yourself up for Google Alerts at www.google.com/alerts. If new content mentioning your company shows up online and Google sees it, the search engine will send out an automatic alert letting you know. There are also a variety of free and paid services that will monitor online search terms and any major review sites for mentions, and will quickly notify you if new information about you is posted. If you are serious about managing your online reputation, these services are extremely valuable.

3 4

5

Step Five: Once you have a good pic- ture of your online grade, get ready to roll up your sleeves and start problem solving. If your employees are rude, train them. If

it quickly. The people who complain have done you a great favor. It’s now up to you to decide if negative reviews are going to be the kiss of death or a wakeup call.

Step Three: Uncover everything that is being said about you. If you found a bad review in one place, there are probably others. You will need to spend a few hours researching yourself online. Start Googling, and take notes of what you find and where. A word of caution: resist the urge to respond to anything. Be strategic, not impulsive. You will need a game plan before typing a word.

your establishment is dirty, clean it. If people hate working for you, investigate. Unless you are the victim of competitor sabotage, what you are reading is probably based in truth. If needed, revisit step two.

Step Six: Involve your team and communicate your improve- ment plan. You will reach your goal faster if everyone in your organization under- stands what it is and is work- ing toward it.

Step Seven: When you are interacting with people, ask them what they think. You already know some of them have no problem sharing their opinions with the world, so they will probably be willing to candidly tell you the good, bad, and ugly. Ask- ing your customers or clients for help can prove extremely beneficial.

6 7

“We are working hard to improve. Would you be willing to talk to me for a few min- utes? Thank you. What two or three things could we have done differently in order to make your experience with us better?”

If at all possible, have these conversa- tions verbally. You may be surprised by the quantity and quality of informa- tion you are able to quickly gather.

Step Eight: Once you have a clear sense of what is going on with your business and are on the road to smoothing out the rough spots, get back to the reviews. It’s time to answer them.

8 First, thank the reviewer for letting TPI TURF NEWS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016