One day, any company (also any) discovers itself being the target of an unusual number of complaints from customers, users, or consumers, whether on social networks, specialized services and portals, government agencies.
The red alert goes off: it is necessary to alleviate the discomfort, seek ways to circumvent the situation, solve the problems, and (or) often just try to cover up the case to prevent it from gaining larger proportions and ending up, I don’t know, on a TV program with high viewership as a negative example of actions by villainous companies.
A crisis of this type falls into the category of pernicious events, with a high chance of damage. It’s not the only one, of course. Risk management areas may deal with issues ranging from executive kidnappings to large-scale fires, hacker attacks, and, increasingly, climate disasters. All of this goes through evaluations, insurance analysis, and the like.
Reputation is built brick by brick
In this scenario, reputation plays a prominent role. However, the issue is that suddenly building a good guy image out of nowhere does not work.
Reputation is not something that emerges overnight. It is built slowly and consistently, brick by brick, paying attention to often unnoticed details in everyday life. Imagine a company whose receptionist is in a bad mood and interacts with clients aggressively or negligently. Even if it is, in most cases, an outsourced professional, the displeasure is already evident. A mistreated consumer in the call center, a delay in delivery (or payment), clumsy technical assistance… every small point of contact can turn into a benefit or a detriment to the reputation.
Here at Percepta, one of our partners recalls having had a problem with the car rental agency Localiza years ago. “I held a grudge and that’s it,” he says. But this year, he needed to use a replacement car and was directed by the insurer straight to Localiza.
“No matter the details, another issue arose. Instead of going to Reclame Aqui, I went to the store where I picked up the car, explained the problem, the lady assisted me wonderfully. Moreover: I needed the response to my query to be sent by email. I contacted Localiza, voiced this need, and once again, I was surprised by the quality of service,” he says.
This is one of the best examples of how small things have the power to alter an evaluation.
When it becomes even more necessary, especially in a moment of crisis, it’s this “balance” (or “reputational debt”) that will tilt in favor of conflict resolution, whatever it may be (or not, in the case of “debt”). By not leveraging this favorable capital better, management starts off in the red, forced to build overnight what should have been sown daily, compelling the teams in the field to perform virtual feats to get everything back on track.
To make a rough comparison, it’s like literally trying to put a band-aid on a broken leg. Of course, there are professional teams with enough experience to replace the band-aid with orthopedic surgery, but the cost is high. The required time is long, the results come later, but by then the damage is already done. Therefore, old but valid sayings apply here: in reputation, it’s also bit by bit that the hen fills its crop, and slowly but surely wins the race.
5 fundamental points, among many others that can be explored to avoid a crisis:
On any given day, a company (also any) discovers that it is the target of an unusual number of complaints from customers, users, or consumers, whether on social networks, specialized services and portals, government agencies.
The red alert goes off: it is necessary to mitigate the discomfort, seek ways to circumvent the situation, solve the problems and (or) often, just try to cover up the case so it doesn’t gain larger proportions and end up, who knows, on a Sunday TV program with great audience as a negative example of actions by evil companies.
A crisis of this type is in that category of pernicious events, with a high chance of damage. It’s not the only one, of course. Risk management areas can delve into issues ranging from executive kidnappings to large-scale fires, hacker attacks, and even, increasingly popular, climatic disasters. All of this goes through evaluations, insurance analysis, and so on.
Reputation is built brick by brick
In this scenario, reputation plays a prominent role. But the issue is that suddenly building a good guy image out of nowhere doesn’t work.
Reputation isn’t something that emerges overnight. It is built slowly and steadily, brick by brick, paying attention to details often unnoticed in everyday life. Imagine a company whose receptionist is in a bad mood and greets (or treats) clients rudely or indifferently. Even if it is, in most cases, a third-party professional, the displeasure is already there. A mistreated consumer in the call center, a delay in delivery (or payment), awkward technical support… each small point of contact can turn into a benefit or detriment to the reputation.
Here at Percepta, one of our partners recounts that he had an issue with the car rental agency Localiza years ago. ‘I held a grudge and that’s it,’ he says. But this year, he needed to use a replacement car and was directed by the insurance company straight to Localiza.
‘No matter the details, another issue arose. Instead of going to Complaints Board, I went to the store where I picked up the car, explained the problem, and the lady there served me wonderfully. What’s more, I needed the response to my inquiry sent via email. I contacted Localiza, expressed this need, and once again, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of service,’ he recounts.
This is one of the best examples of how small things have the power to change an evaluation.
When it becomes even more necessary, in a time of crisis, it is this ‘balance’ (or ‘reputational debit’) that will work in favor of conflict resolution, whatever it may be (or not, in the case of ‘debit’). Without better capitalizing on this favorable asset, management is already at a loss, forced to build overnight what should be sown daily, compelling the teams in the field to perform virtual acrobatics to keep everything on track.
Roughly speaking, it’s like literally trying to put a band-aid on a broken leg. Of course, there are professional teams with enough experience to replace the band-aid with orthopedic surgery, but the cost is high. The time required is long, the results come later, but by then the damage is already done. So, such old but valid sayings apply here: when it comes to reputation, it’s also grain by grain that the hen fills its crop, and slowly but surely reaches further.
5 fundamental points, among many others that can be explored to avoid a crisis:
- Be the strategic guardian of your brand: monitor your brand’s health over time, track what is being said about the company on social media, in the press, by your business partners, and on review sites;
- Proactively manage customer and employee feedback: it is pointless to encourage customers and employees to provide feedback if responses to complaints are not timely and problems are not resolved promptly;
- Communicate directly with each of your stakeholders, personalize your message: ensure that the company’s communication is clear, honest, and transparent with all stakeholders, including customers, partners, and employees. Avoid promises that cannot be kept;
- Employee training and values alignment: ensure that all employees are aligned with the company’s narrative and prepared to represent the brand appropriately. Employee behavior has a significant impact on external perception;
- Care for your ESG Narrative: develop actions that are aligned with the company’s values and are maintained in accordance with the brand’s purposes and audience expectations.
