Reputation Management Tips for SMEs

Reputation means a lot in business.

Large companies with millions of customers can afford a couple of bad reviews. They already have established brand trust. SMEs need to remain cautious because even one bad review can affect sales. Bad customer testimonials or a poor reputation hurts every company, but SMEs are much more volatile. Why? Because the reputation of a smaller business is much more susceptible to changes due to one bad customer review. To protect and ensure the reputation of your business remains positive, you need to develop a management strategy.

Our guide below gives you some good tips and tools that will help you efficiently manage your reputation.

Podium Review – Instantly Generate Positive Reviews.

When it comes to reputation management, it is best to be proactive.  A retroactive style would look like trying to bury poor reviews or press. Neither management style is right nor wrong. Both could be useful given different circumstances. Podium Review as a service could be used for either. For example, your SME could be launching a new product and needs positive reviews to appear on the web page. Podium is excellent for generating high-quality positive reviews for your company. In this case, taking a proactive management style would produce the best results. It's the perfect tool to create many positive customer testimonials you can use to fill your new product web page.

And there's more. It also works as a messaging platform. So, it messages your customers encourage them to leave a review for your product over text. One reason we love the service is its effectiveness. Podium messages customers right after a positive interaction. So, you can seize those opportunities where a customer was pleased with your product and get a five-star review. Best of all, Podium automates the entire process for you and your company. You don’t have to go in and set up any complicated messaging sequences.

Reputation Rhino – Best for SMEs

If reputation management is a question of money, look no further. While they have big-name clients like Disney, Microsoft, and Nestle, they build their service packages for businesses of all sizes. They believe that every company can benefit from reputation management. They extend these services to individuals and SMEs. They will work with you to build a personalised package based on your reputation management needs.

Reputation Rhino is the best service for defending against smear campaigns, suppressing negative online search results, adding extra protection to privacy, and eliminating news articles, forum comments, and negative reviews. As a bonus, they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you aren’t happy. The greatest advantage is that Reputation Rhino will build an individualised service for you. They do not take a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Your circumstances and business are unique and require a refined approach.

Reputation Resolutions – Best for Crisis Mode.

Reputation Resolutions is the go-to agency for crisis management. They can start working on your crisis in 24-72 hours. They have a team of attorneys and seasoned professionals who will build a wide array of responses for your company. So you can maintain your good reputation. If something catastrophic occurs, you need an expert in your corner immediately. This service is your best option in this case. Any crisis Reputation Resolutions can be negative attention in media or a flood of bad customer reviews.

Their top crisis management features include news article removal, court record removal, private information removal, unwanted image removal, and cyber forensics investigations. Keep in mind that these services are expensive and extreme. If you are an SME looking to take care of a few negative reviews, this is not the best service. However, if you face a public relations crisis, you might need to bring on Reputation Resolutions.

Suffering from a bad reputation can drag your business performance down. You may feel like reputation is not something you need to consider.

However, when was the last time you read reviews for your SME? If sales have slowed, it could be due to a couple of bad reviews. Luckily, managing them is easy when you partner with any of the services listed above.

Overall, as a business, you should take a proactive approach to reputation management, so you don't need to have a reactive management plan.

Proactive elements of reputation management include ensuring you build a sound relationship with your customers.

You can achieve that by utilising social media and email marketing. 

Furthermore, if your product-market fit is aligned, you are more likely to avoid disappointed and disgruntled customers.