Reputation management companies are a solution which many companies are turning to in order to protect themselves online and ensure that the world can see an accurate representation of your company on the internet. To prove this, you only need to look at the reputation management consultant reviews online to get an idea as to how many companies have enjoyed and benefitted from this kind of service. If you are running a small business then this is a very important aspect of the company that you should be looking at, because your online reputation holds a great deal of value to customers who may find your business, and overall on your sales within the business. If you are not sure why you might need a service like this, here are just some of the ways in which your company can be damaged.
Angry Ex Employee
Let’s say that you have recently fired an employee, after many warnings they simply became too much of a problem for you, so you showed them the door. Now let’s say that the employee is angry, and takes to the internet to write a scathing assessment of your business on employment websites and on review sites. If you have a reputation management company on hand, you can swiftly get rid of these falsehoods and protect your online reputation. If however, you do not use a company like this, these comments may go unnoticed for months, during which time you have damaged your overall reputation and lost a huge amount of customers.
Associated Guilt
Partnerships and relationships in business is a great idea and you should always look to reach across the business world to make as many contacts as possible and create mutually beneficial relationships. Now let’s say that a company with whom you have partnered up with in the past, has been found guilty of foul play, enough to get the papers talking. All across the internet your company name will be found right alongside the company which is now in disrepute, what are they going to think about your business? This is called guilt by association and it means that people will easily tar you with the same brush as your partner, thus damaging your company. If in this situation you had a rep management company working for you, all evidence of the partnership would be buried online so that nobody every saw it.
Competition
Because the internet is a largely unpoliced entity, there is nothing to stop your competitors from trying to get one over you by posting negative remarks about your company. Whilst this is completely unscrupulous and underhanded, there is really nothing that can stop this from damaging your company, unless you are using a rep management company to protect your image online.
Reputations online can be damaged in an instant, don’t let that happen to your business.