How Do The Big Players Do It?
Successful companies have managed to maintain their reputation over time. They have received bad press on multiple occasions, but they managed to stay on top. The Cupertino Company, Apple, has a great reputation with consumers. Apart from the technological advantage, the fruit company has managed to combine leadership with innovation across multiple areas.
They managed to gain a reputation over time through investment in the brand. By releasing the very best in terms of quality, they have managed to stay on top of negative feedback. The failure of 3D Maps led to a lot of negative feedback, but the release of the iPad Mini shifted the focus towards the new product. Apart from new releases, the way Apple transformed the leadership of the company from Steve Jobs to Tim Cook is a prime example of how to build and reinforce a strong reputation.
Nintendo is another example. The newly released Wii U has been under a lot of fire as Nintendo’s Wii series hasn’t been able to match other gaming consoles. However, the company recently took advantage of the sale of 400,000 units during the Black Friday week. Users searching for the console are coming across the news like ‘Wii U starts strong’ and ‘Wii U makes an impression with 400,000 sales during first week’.
Small companies, business owners, and advertisers can also follow the same model for maintaining a positive reputation and staying on top of negative feedback. Here are a few practical tips to follow:
1. Apply a negative feedback strategy
The view of consumers is affected by the way the company deals with negative feedback. Having a well-thought-out strategy will allow your company to respond immediately. After you’ve addressed the area that caused the negative feedback, the consumers are going to label your company as the one that takes the customers seriously.
2. Maintain a healthy work environment and culture
Consumers like companies where employees are allowed to have a voice. A healthy culture within the company can significantly increase positive reputation, as the employees will be spreading good words about the working conditions. The press also highlights companies that take care of their employees.
3. Be active online
Online reputation is considered to be a major part of the company’s overall reputation. There are several ways of maintaining a positive reputation online, such as being active on social media websites and dealing with negative reviews positively. If this is too much to handle, companies have the option of taking reputation management services. An example of a company offering these services is Reputation.com.
The major players were able to achieve a positive reputation over time by focusing on the basic model of reputation management. It’s not impossible for smaller companies to do the same.