In this day and age, online reputation matters a lot if you want to streak ahead in the race of competition. Negative publicity spreads like wildfire, so it is crucial to be cautious of what people are talking about or posting about you.

One negative review can push back thousands of customers. Further, Google does not delete negative reviews. It takes years to build an online reputation, and it takes a second to ruin it.

You may come across moments when you find your reputation at risk. If you do not immediately take action to repair it, you will surely be out of the competition. Here is how you can fix your damaged online reputation.

Identify your current situation

How will you get to know what people think about your product or service? How will you come you know what they are talking about your brand? How will you figure out whether they have posted a review on Google or social media?

First off, you need to evaluate your current situation, and you will have to keep it sporadically so you can keep a line on people what they are posting and talking about your brand.

Just search for reports and reviews using your company name or any other suitable keywords. You can use tools like Google Alerts so you can get notifications when people mention your brand name in their conversation on social media or in reviews. 

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Apologise when necessary

Sometimes you put your foot in it. Of course, you cannot turn back the time and mend things, but you can apologise. On International Women’s Day, Burger King immediately apologised for posting a sexist remark, “Women belong in the kitchen”.

This remark invited a barrage of criticism. When the company realised that they had done something wrong or silly, they immediately took the lead and humbly asked for an apology.

Likewise, if you have found that a customer is not happy with your product and service, you should make it up to them to not write a negative review. However, some people will not complain to you, post a review, and go away.

Therefore, it is essential to be cautious. If you have seen any negative review posted by someone, you should immediately contact them and ask how you can resolve their complaint because otherwise, they will not delete that review. People share, like and reshare negative reviews, so be careful about them.

Identify the root cause of damaged online reputation

Asking for an apology may not be enough to improve online reputation because several other people may not be satisfied with your product and service, and it can be challenging to fix their issues.

Instead, you should try to identify what makes them unsatisfied. You must know whether the quality of your product or customer service, or late shipping invites criticism. Once you get to the root cause, you can remove the likelihood of such problems arising down the line.

For instance, if you have noticed that most of them are not happy with your customer service, you should try to train your staff to handle customer queries ceremoniously and patiently.

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It is essential to patiently listen to customers to know what they are expecting from you. Likewise, if you find that you are failing to keep up with your promises, you should ensure that you do not make any promises next time that you cannot fulfil. Everything counts when it comes to building an online reputation.

Be a great employer

If you are doing well, your employees have also partly contributed to it, which is why it becomes essential to take care of them.

It is hard to grab good employees. If they are making an effort to achieve your goal, you should also admire them by offering incentives and some benefits.

If you just point at their mistakes or pick holes in their work and not admire them when things are going well, good employees can leave you and post a negative review.

It can be hard to get hardworking, creative and dedicated workers for your company. Further, it will cost you a lot of money in hiring and onboarding new employees.

The final word

It is crucial to maintain an online reputation to be one up on your competitors. However, there are times when you can come across negative publicity. The tips mentioned above can help you prevent from attracting negative publicity.