By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2011-03-11 02:29:03 | Word Count: 664
There is little you can do to prevent someone from running a smear campaign against your business. The internet is the easiest place for someone to do this. The internet offers a level of anonymity that many consumers enjoy because it gives them the opportunity to say what they really feel without fear. It also gives disgruntled customers, ex-employees and other businesses the opportunity to write falsehoods about your company. These kinds of statements are defamatory and allow you to pursue legal actions.
Sites like Ripoff Report have a large influx of consumers that review and complain about businesses every day. Your business could be targeted unfairly. It is possible that there is a complaint written about your company and you don’t even know about it. Host sites like Ripoff Report are immune to liability because they do not actually author any of the reviews on their site. Since they do not publish the comments, any comment that is unfavorable or false is only linked to the consumer, who is often anonymous.
[ advertisement ]
Because of the impact that a negative review can have on your business, you should definitely want to have this comment removed. This is a very tedious task and it can only happen if the statements are defamatory. Comments that are based on truth and can be proven in some way are likely to remain there forever. If the facts of the situation are disputable and reflect a misunderstanding, it is best for you to try to use reputation management to preserve your image.
Reputation management can be used to combat any negative comments posted on consumer based review sites including Ripoff Report. The first technique to managing your reputation online is to refute the claims of the consumer. Do so by adding a comment to their previous negative comment. Answer any concerns that are raised in the review and provide as much information to clear up any misleading information.
Follow up your response with an effort to make the situation better. Offer the consumer an incentive that displays that you take customer satisfaction seriously. Incentives and coupons are a great start. If you did do something wrong, acknowledge this and try to repair your relationship with the customer. Offering a token on the review site indicates to potential consumers that you are decent and authentic. You can also counter the poor review by asking other happy customers to post a comment about their good experience working with you. This will provide other positive perspectives and give readers more information to evaluate before making up their mind about your company.
You need to also add positive PR about your company on the web. When you are the one doing the publishing and syndication, you are in control of your image. The more positive content there is out there about you, the less relevant a negative comment will appear. Positive web content could include press releases, blogs, videos, articles and more.
Optimum7 can guide you and help you to develop a way to manage your online reputation. Contact us today. Call us at 1-800-736-9618
