3 Things You Can Do to Manage Your Reputation

I was watching Doubt last night and was mesmerized by a particular scene where Philip Seymore Hoffman's character describes how gossip spreads.

He likens gossip to standing on the roof of a tall building one morning, busting open a feather pillow and scattering thousands of feathers into the wind. Easy to do, but impossible to go back the next day, find and retrieve all of the feathers.

Your brand reputation is a lot like gossip - created by someone's view of their interaction with you that they then espouse from the rooftops (review sites, Twitter, Facebook, Yelp) to others, set free on the winds of WOM marketing.

So what can you do to protect your reputation in today's "I can Google your company and find out what people really think of you in 5 seconds" world? Here are three suggestions for tackling this somewhat daunting challenge.

1. Watch for pillow fights

We use listening tools and techniques to help our clients follow what customers are saying (good or bad) and react accordingly and appropriately to the conversations - especially the ones that break out  surrounding a given issue like H1N1 or news announcements.

2. Pick up feathers

It's tough, but sometimes you have to go around picking up the piles of feathers from angry customers. The tricky part is knowing how to resource against these efforts. Do you spend the time (read money) to respond to every post and rant or would your staff time be better spent responding strategically to those most likely to ignite a spark?

3. Hand out the pillows 

A relationship marketing plan is like putting a pillow in the

hands of your best customers. It allows you to build a one-to-one relationship with your customers so that their comments are a positive reflection on your product/service/CEO and gives them the tools to spread this information to others.

If you want a good look at your reputation, start by listening. If you're ready to truly manage your reputation and take your pillow-fight game to the next level, stay tuned for tips for developing your own relationship marketing plan.

About the Author: Carol Klimas

Carol Klimas brings a diverse background in both corporate and agency public relations to her position as director of public relations for Off Madison Ave. With a career emphasis on healthcare, business-to-business and technology, Klimas’ work for her current clients includes national media relations, strategic counsel and crisis communications.

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