There may be times though when you become so engrossed with making that sale that you forget your personal brand. You come out too strong in your promotions or marketing campaign because you have a deadline or you’re worried that you’re not going to meet your quota for the month. You became really aggressive, and afterwards, you realize that you may have caused your reputation some harm. So how do you deal with this? How do you salvage your reputation?
1. Engage your audience in conversation
Perhaps the worst thing you can do is simply ignore what happened and act as if it didn’t happen at all. Your consumers are wondering and curious, and the more you leave them to speculate and ponder, the more that what happened could turn into something bigger and far worse than what originally occurred, and you end up scrambling and trying to put out the fires.
This is why it’s best to simply engage your audience in conversation. Talk to your consumers and explain what happened. Apologize if needed. A sincere admission of the mistake you committed can effectively salvage your brand and get back your reputation.
And remember to do this as soon as you can. Don’t wait until what happened spreads through social media like wildfire. An honest post on your blog or Facebook page can give your customers the reassurance they need to continue being loyal to your brand.
2. Respond quickly to any comments or concerns
Not everyone may immediately and easily get back on track with you, however. After all, trust, once broken, can be difficult to rebuild. So if anyone still has concerns about you, make sure that their voice is heard and that you respond quickly to their questions and comments. Any questions they have should be promptly addressed to their satisfaction. This should ensure that the concerns and problems don’t escalate or grow into something bigger.
3. Ask your brand advocates to speak out for you
If you’ve created a strong personal brand before this occurrence, you probably already have a couple of brand advocates who would be willing to go the extra mile for you. So this is the best time to empower these brand advocates and encourage them to speak out for you. Get them to post or talk about their experiences with your brand to help put your reputation back in a positive light.
4. Learn from the experience
You’ve made a mistake and now you’ve taken steps to correct it. The best thing you can do is learn from the experience and move on. Continue making sure that you have a strong personal brand that garners trust from your consumers. Don’t forget to engage with your audience and offer excellent content that stimulates conversation and discussion. And remember not to let another promo or contest take priority over your customers.
In direct selling, your customers should always be your priority, and you should never forget that. It’s tough enough competing in this cutthroat world of business without ruining your reputation, so you should definitely take steps to protect it.
In time, your audience will pretty much forget about what happened because of your strong personal brand. That’s what it’s all about. So make sure that your brand can ride through any waves that can happen. That’s the key to ensuring that your reputation doesn’t suffer.
Also, make sure to monitor your brand closely and continuously. Don’t let others take control of your brand – make sure that you’re holding the reigns, always. Remember that when it comes to the online world, Google is not merely a search engine – it becomes the basis of people’s opinion of you. The top results in Google when someone searches for your name is pretty much your online reputation.
Truly, the key to an excellent reputation that can withstand the test of time is to make sure that you’re always sincere, consistent, honest and transparent with how you deal with your consumers. Always live up to what you promise. Do your best never to let down your brand.