What is ORM?
ORM is an abbreviation for Online Reputation Management. That in itself should’ve given you the idea of what it is. Experts say that the future is all dependent on the Reputation and reviews that a brand has. Their business would depend not only on the services they’ve provided but also how they’ve provided it and how the clients appreciated their work. So if you’d like to have a reputation for yourself in any field, ORM is to look out for.
It’s always good as long as you receive good reviews for your product. But there’s going to be a time when you start receiving the negative ones. As it’s no rocket science that negative things are always highlighted first, you must do everything in your power to avoid that situation. As even if you get 5-star reviews from 4 of your customers, one single star will drop your rating to a 4 star and another one star, your rating would be in 3 stars. People usually don’t go with the businesses lower than a 3-star rating. Don’t be in a delusion that they won’t be observing. As a matter of fact, they will.
There are usually 3 different situations in which negative ORM affects your business:
You already have a good reputation for yourself:
When your business already has a good reputation, then you need to protect it. You’ve built this reputation striving to be the best and those efforts should never cease. You need to keep checking for your ORM and make sure there isn’t a scenario where there’s a chance of having a negative feedback.
Your reputation has just taken a toll:
In certain unforeseen scenarios, there’s a possibility of having someone offended. It may be just one person or a stream of audiences who could be pissed off just with a false rumour or if you’ve made some major error. This is a situation where a lot of criticism can be expected coming from all the directions.
You haven’t been receiving the deserved reputation since inception:
You have been working really hard and helping your clients with their situations. Even after providing some of the excellent services in your expertise but still couldn’t receive the kind of reputation that you deserve.
What can you do about this?
Maintain Transparency:
For businesses, the key issue arises when people start doubting their credibility. The rumours spread fast, especially in this world of social media, negative things go viral. It doesn’t take much time before it lands before everyone’s knowledge. The similar issue took place with Appy Fizz as well. This drink that was getting all the hype, started to see a decline in its sales, due to the rumour that it’s causing some sort of disease. KFC also had the same issue with them and since then KFC now and then offers anyone to come to their kitchen and have a look at how the chicken is made. This kind of transparency raises the trust bar and the customers don’t feel the need of doubting anymore.
Leveraging the testimonials:
The testimonials that you receive from your previous customers or the customers or clients you’ve been dealing with are the most assured reviews that anyone would like to take. As the user has already experienced the same and would understand the service they would provide. You must have seen the amazon’s review section. You can find that they are two types of comments. One from regular ones and the other from the verified buyer. Which review would you like to go with? Of course, the one who’s already a verified buyer.
Responding to the feedbacks asap:
The feedback that you receive, no matter if they’re positive or negative you must respond. Responding isn’t the only thing, you need to respond for it quickly. This not only builds a bond between both the parties but also creates a familiar situation for the customer to come and purchase or make business with the same service again. Also, accept the negative comments with grace and politely. Assure the customer that the same error would never take place again after apologies.
Taking the criticism and without deleting the comment:
The worst-case scenario in an ORM is deleting the negative comments. This will eventually have a really bad influence on the company’s reputation. There’d be a time when people start to understand that you’ve been deleting all the negative feedbacks and then at that particular point they’d be even more pissed off. There’d also be a certain place where the customers would be putting all the comments and that’s where it’ll be evident, what kind of a reputation your company carries.
Taking the responsibility and damage control:
Take all the responsibility even if it’s an honest mistake. Explain your version on a different occasion or a different platform. First, make your attempts at cooling their rage and then see if they understand your explanation. Give them proper space and time to empathize with you. Slowly they’ll try to understand your version of it as well. If it was an honest mistake then they’ll start having a softer side for you.
An approachable service team:
So how would you like it when there’s something terribly wrong and you don’t have anyone to express it to. That’s when the customer’s or client’s anger level raises. They start to throw words and reviews everywhere they could and that’s when you’ll see a high rate of negative ratings. This would kill the reputation that you’ve carried on for so long. So always make sure your services team is up for their job.
Take a good care of illegitimate attackers:
Illegitimate attackers are the ones that try to attack your business with an ill intention. They strive to pull you down either because of the competition you give or because of unpleasant experiences from you in the past. This situation can be handled by understanding the root of the situation. Make appropriate announcements if required for the people to hear you out.
Keep a track on how the reviews change with time:
Change in the quality of reviews is directly proportional to the quality of work you deliver. Hence, always keep a track on the quality of the reviews to have a better understanding of your performance. Dedicate a certain time of the week for this or assign the appropriate authorities to take care of this data. As reviews should never be taken lightly in the world that completely depends on other’s opinions.
Bottomline:
Be genuine and honest in whatever you do. Admit it whenever you’re at fault. Negative feedbacks are inevitable, never be too pissed off or depressed when you have to see these comments. Face them with the right spirit and make it up for your mistakes. It’ll go a long way in building your future.
If you’d like to understand a better way of having a good relationship with your client/customer, do give this article a read.
For further more tips on ORM, you can visit here.
