What not to do in a brand reputation crisis
No company is safe from a brand reputation crisis: at any time a small error in production, a misinterpreted communication, or a dissatisfied customer can unleash a corporate image problem. It is something that companies know and that users “tolerate” to the extent that the brand is capable of responding.
It is for this last reason that as well as avoiding a crisis, it is very important how we manage it and, above all, what that first direct response from the company is like, how it addresses its users, and how it proposes solutions/responses to the cause. that has caused this brand reputation crisis.
Customers know that in this 2.0 universe, the brand value lies not only in what they do but also in how they react and how they listen. What mistakes in this regard should they never make in order not to worsen a reputation crisis?
The Top 5 mistakes made in a brand reputation crisis
Not acting on time:
A reputation crisis is similar to when paint can fall from a table: if you pick it up the moment it falls over, all you have to do is clean up the stain and return everything to its correct place. But if, on the other hand, you wait for a better moment to clean it, you don’t realize what has happened or you ignore it, thinking that someone else will pick it up for you, you may find that the paint has spread in its entirety, spattering everything, that it has dried and you will have to scratch, that others have dispersed it… In other words, everything has become more complicated than it should be.
For this reason, we must not only have a pre-designed action plan (type responses, have a reputation crisis resolution team, determine who is in charge of what, etc.), but we must also have the capacity and means to implement it. March to the minute, without further delay.
Do not explain:
Giving silence as an answer is the same as affirming that there is a problem and that there are no means to solve it or that something has certainly been done wrong and there is no reasonable explanation for the behavior of which we are accused.
At the moment in which the reputation crisis occurs, the public (both the affected and the “curious”) expect a convincing response from the parties involved. At these times, corporate accounts, the website, and company representatives are in the spotlight. For this reason, we cannot and should not simply wait for the storm to pass, because if we do not give the appropriate explanations, others will give them for us…
Not taking care of the messages issued:
That not giving explanations is a mistake does not mean that giving them is simply the right thing to do. We insist: as the reputational crisis increases, eyes are increasingly fixed on our communication channels, so every message issued must be agreed upon, with meaning, within a detailed action plan, and, of course, without lies. nor excuses that can further fuel the case.
If at the time of the brand reputation crisis, we still do not have the necessary information to know what caused the error and why it occurred, the message to convey about it is that work is being done to offer effective solutions and that We do not ignore what happened. In this situation, comments such as: “From Crisis, we are investigating the reasons that have led us to the current situation in order to give the appropriate explanations. As soon as we can clarify the facts we will inform you. Thank you”, they help at least to give a transparent image of our management.
Not admitting mistakes
To err is human, and the public understands and understands that in certain situations, they fall into logical failures in an organization.
What the public does not tolerate is arrogance: denying the obvious or blaming a situation on third parties is arrogant, an unattractive quality for a brand. For this reason, if we are accused of a failure, be it our fault directly or indirectly, we must position ourselves from the client’s perspective and satisfy their demand for information: either by offering them the data that refutes it, the reasons for what has happened or by apologizing. at the same time we offer alternatives so that it does not happen again.
Not repairing your own organization
A brand reputation crisis not only affects public opinion: your workers, your organization, investors, suppliers… are also affected by the reputation problem.
These themselves are ambassadors of your brand both voluntarily and involuntarily: they are the ones who recommend it to family and friends, who, in a situation of a good work environment, transmit it on a day-to-day basis, even outside the office. If they do not know everything that is done to solve a critical situation or worse, they do not believe that there is a solution, and none of the messages that come out of our company will have enough credibility to be able to fix what happened.
In short, how we do not act is just as important as how we act in the face of a brand reputation crisis. Free yourself from critical eyes and regain the trust of your audience with Removal Media.