Question

Topic: Strategy

Reputation Management Best Practices

Posted by AriRose on 8/11/2015 at 3:42 PM ET 500 Points
I provide SEM services to a chain of convalescent hospitals that have had their share of negative reviews online. Overall, they are a good, solid company that cares for the patients and staff, but there are always those naysayers who have to post negative comments on Yelp, social media, etc... that are appearing online.

The company does not have the budget to hire a separate reputation management firm - they expect me to manage this to the best of my ability.

I am looking for reputation management best-practices, or resources where I can develop this strategy independently. Thank you.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 8/11/2015 at 5:03 PM Moderator
    It's a bad sign that "[t]he company does not have the budget to hire a separate reputation management firm ..." not because I like to see such firms make a lot of money, but because it signals that the company doesn't think reputation management is important enough to spend money on it.

    They'd rather see if they can "get something for nothing" by disrespecting you and your skills, and asking you to expend your time and energy addressing their problem.

    I had a similar situation with a client about a year ago. My solution was to tell them I'd handle the first incident for a specific [additional] fixed fee, but that any future incidents would require an ongoing retainer. Sure enough, they were back 6 weeks later to request the retainer ... because they saw how effective the initial response was, and they were faced with another urgent problem.

    The lesson for you: Make sure the client understands that reputation management goes beyond the scope of your contracted work for them, but that you're willing to take it on if it's an ongoing need. Then you can afford to spend the time/effort to learn what you need to know, or subcontract it out to someone who already knows what to do.
  • Posted by AriRose on 8/11/2015 at 5:29 PM Author
    I appreciate that Michael. And you're right, they probably should spend the extra money. But at this point, they are simply going to shift my duties to focus on this initiative. I embrace the opportunity to learn new skills, and if they indeed want me to continue this, plus additional functions, we'll have to discuss a new contract.

    But in the meantime... any suggestions to help me along my way?
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 8/11/2015 at 6:08 PM Accepted
    Read Masters of Disaster (by Christopher Lehane, Mark Fabiani, and Bill Guttentag). I reviewed this book here: https://www.manygoodideas.com/2013/04/01/masters-of-disaster/
  • Posted on 8/11/2015 at 8:56 PM Accepted
    A few tips I picked up/learned along the way ...

    1. Get the facts from internal sources. Make sure the problem described matches what your people think happened. Then you'll know how much to apologize or stand firm. You'll also learn if it's a systemic problem, an employee problem, or just an honest mistake.

    2. Repeat the complaint, with particular attention to how the complainer FEELS. Offer any explanation, but not defensively.

    3. Thank the complainer for sharing his/her thoughts and feelings. "It's the only way we have to really know how we're doing."

    4. Provide a telephone number -- direct line to the big boss, if possible -- so the complainer understands that you take the complaint seriously. (My client now posts his mobile phone number in all locations and invites calls from customers ... "so I know how we're doing from the only people who count." He gets very few calls ... not even one a month. And sometime it's a compliment!)

    5. Be prepared with a "peace offering." Even if it's just a cup of coffee and a doughnut, it can go a long way to demonstrating that you care about the individual and want to earn his/her trust/friendship.

    6. The goal in your mind should be to convert the complainer into a loyal fan who actively recommends you. It's amazing how often that happens when you think that way.
  • Posted by dalcid on 8/12/2015 at 9:32 AM Accepted
    In my experience, reputation has less to do with review band-aids and more with discovering if outliers are the exception or the rule. As alluded to in other comments, you need to find truths across all customer experiences and not just those that are voiced - this takes time and effort, which may or may not mean money. Really, think about the hospital as a person: what do you -as a person- have to do to take care of or even repair your reputation? It's takes a lot of time and energy.

    As a customer making decisions about this category, I would go to your web site and google your company -- for your web site, I would be impressed with any data visualizations about positive patient satisfaction as well as family satisfaction. You really need to engage families because they're the ones who are able to be the most critical at this point, not necessarily the convalescent. If the client has no feedback system, implement one - but make sure that you don't over-reward feedback as that could be misconstrued. And if these homes have to pass some sort of review board every year or some other type of agency approval process, you need to highlight that as well if it's positive.

    Finally, as a customer, I'll watch promotional videos. Think about investing in that but be very careful about HIPAA standards and privacy (videos via phonecam can work too if done right - see Wistia, where I get a lot of pointers from). I don't know how high videos rank in SEO/M these days but I for me they're compelling.
  • Posted by AriRose on 8/12/2015 at 10:33 AM Author
    Excellent input, thank you. On a tactical level, how should I best display this positive feedback on the web? One of their challenges is that when a particular location is googled, the negative reviews appear. Posting positive reviews on yelp? Press releases? Any other suggestions?
  • Posted on 8/12/2015 at 11:23 AM Moderator
    You/they need to address every review online, so everyone can see that you're on top of this. Yelp (and others) provide for responses from the business owner/manager. Whenever someone sees a negative review, they need to see your response as well.
  • Posted by AriRose on 8/17/2015 at 10:37 AM Author
    Thank you all for the valuable resources and advice. I look forward to putting these ideas into action.
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