As soon as your company lands its first client the potential for bad publicity increases tremendously. Here is a person who buys your product, receives your service in the hopes that it will counter a pain point in their lives and your job is to impress them.
During the transaction, good things will happen but occasionally something might go wrong in the form of bad customer services, late deliveries, or an unsatisfying product. Now if one client is unsatisfied you may say that my product is not for everyone, but if 50 clients are unhappy then your reputation is in deep trouble.
If we do some quick math, 50 people can tell one person each, and now you have 100 people who dislike your product/services. If the 100 tell one more person you loose 200 clients. For a big company, this pinch may not be felt but for a start-up, you need to stop whatever you are doing now and face this music. However un-danceable it is.
Lucky there are effective ways you can counter bad publicity and not only will you quite the slander you can turn it in your favor. It is not recommended to go out of your way to cause a scandal to increase your visibility but if they are already talking about you it means you have their attention. Let's see how you can clean such a mess in 3 steps.
STEP 1: Start cleaning inside out
The process of cleaning the house must start internally. Your team needs to see the reviews and understand that it's their work that is being slandered. Collect the reviews they have heard as well and did not tell you about them. And finally, come up with a plan together. Decide what you want people to say about your company and encourage every single team member to start shouting that one message.
STEP 2: Spread the new message like wildfire
If you don't like what is being said about you, change the conversation. When a client, friend of a client does not like your product you will find that there is a single-phase use a lot when referring to you "the ABC doesn't deliver on time ever" "that company has bad customer service"
Some of the people who will give this review have never even tried your product. They heard a bad review from a friend of a friend and your name stacked in their heads by going straight to their mental Blackbook. This is not something you change by disputing what they know to be true. Change the conversation.
Decide what you want to be known for and hit every media outlet available to you saying that single message. If you are known for being late in delivery then your new message could be "Order today and receive it today". If you are known for having bad customer service sing "We care for you more than your mother" Well not that extreme, but you get the picture.
The goal here is to be lauder than the friends who got a bad experience, you are not saying the friend lied, you simply have a more positive message to share. This alone will not be enough.
STEP 3: Turn the negative reviews in your favor
After receiving a direct complaint the customer service team needs to do the following to keep the client from going out and spread their anger to her close friends and family. these days they might even go out and tell their 10,000 followers on social media.
Once a client complains listen.
Listen to what they are saying, understand that they came to you for a solution to their problem and somehow you have failed them. For a face-to-face client, engage them in a conversation and offer to help them in the best way possible, and genuenly assist them to the end.
When you receive a negative review online look at the complaint carefully to see if this is a real client or a troll looking for attention. A client will complain in detail, depicting their ordeal and how you have failed them. A troll will simply say something negative like "stupid product" "ugly product" "don't buy this it's useless" these are hurt, unloved human beings that are on your page to seek attention. Actions to take Delete comment, block the account.
Now for the real unsatisfied client. Respond to their review by apologizing for their experience, offer a return of the product if possible, or a discount. Bad news travels fast so chances are this negative comment/review has more people paying attention to it. Use that to your advantage. After your apology offer your current service, depending on what the client was complaining about. Tell them you have improved ABC and now XYZ can be done faster and Better. Anyone who sees the negative review will see your response as well.
In all honesty, bad publicity is negative reviews gone unchecked. Deal with bad comments and reviews immediately. Keep a cool head and remember it is very possible to turn an angry mob into your cheerleaders.