Is it possible to rebuild your brand’s reputation following a crisis?
It’s naive thinking to believe that your firm will never suffer a reputation problem, so be prepared to be able to rebuild your brand’s reputation.
It takes a long time to build a respected brand. You might devote years to developing a solid brand image for your company. When anything goes wrong, though, that brand image you’ve spent so much time and work building can be ruined in a matter of minutes and take years to rebuild your brand’s reputation. Unfortunately, even with all of the protections in place, a crisis cannot always be avoided. Things happen that are beyond your control, and you must be prepared to deal with them. If you’ve ever faced a crisis — or simply want to be prepared in case one occurs — there are a few things you can do to help protect your brand’s reputation.
1. Take action swiftly.
You could expect that when something goes wrong, it will just go away. Regrettably, this is not always the case. Your audience will not forget or disregard what has occurred; instead, they will wait for you to take action. Prepare to act rapidly if necessary. You want to spread the word about what happened, what went wrong, and what you’re doing to improve things. Get it out there as soon as possible, preferably within 24 to 48 hours.
2. Admit your mistake.
If you or a member of your team makes a mistake, take responsibility for it. When something goes wrong, your audience isn’t interested in hearing excuses or hearing you assign blame to someone else; they just want to know what occurred. Admit what you could have done differently to avoid the situation in the first place. Apologize for what went wrong, and tell them what you will do to prevent it from happening again.
3. Do the right thing.
An apology is an excellent place to start, but it might not be adequate depending on what transpired. It would help if you did everything possible to get your audience relationships back on track. Returning to your consumers’ good graces will almost certainly necessitate some expenditure. While you can do things like giving discounted counts or complimentary services, you may need to do more than that.
4. Stay away from social media brawls.
It’s easy to become defensive when audience members, old customers, or even people who are completely unrelated to your brand start commenting about your company on social media. To protect your reputation, you might want to start fighting back. Unfortunately, this is ineffective. While it may seem nice at the time, it might actually harm your reputation. Instead, choose your arguments carefully: offer to talk through an issue over the phone or encourage dissatisfied customers to contact you through other methods.
5. Make a long-term strategy.
Reputations are hard to erase. It can be pretty beneficial to have a good rebuild your brand’s reputation plan. However, it might not be easy to overcome if you have a terrible reputation. It will take time to improve your public image. Make a plan for the future, not just today, this week, or even this year. Recognize the extent of the damage and what you’ll need to do to fix it, no matter how long it takes.
6. Ensure that everyone on your team is on the same page.
Everyone on your team should be aware of and supportive of your reputation-building strategy. To get everyone on the same page, hold a team meeting. Make sure your staff knows what to say when they’re asked about the situation and that everyone understands what happened and how you’re dealing with it. Keep your door open for any inquiries or discussions they may have. Remember that managing your brand’s reputation is a collaborative effort.
We all hope that a company-wide crisis never occurs, but that is usually just wishful thinking. Things, both big and small, are bound to happen. It’s critical that you understand what to do if something goes wrong. These six stages can help you get started controlling your brand’s reputation, but make sure to tweak them as needed.
When it comes to protecting and rebuilding your brand’s reputation, nobody does it better than Amicus International Consulting, contact us today for more information on how we can help you.
