When it comes to brand building, bad PR is your worst enemy. This problem with your reputation could come about due to a mistake on your part, or due to the failure of your product in one form or another.
Mel Brooks once said, “As long as the world is turning and spinning, we’re going to be dizzy, and we’re going to make mistakes.“
This quote is as true about life as it is about the business arena.
However, just because your brand has received some negative PR due to some mistake, your business is not doomed to fail, because you can fix the PR damage done.
The tips listed below will show you how to rebuild your brand after a PR nightmare:
Don’t Panic
Before you react to whatever the problem is, it is imperative that you relax and not panic. When you make decisions in haste, they are most likely to be the wrong ones.
Therefore, when a PR issue comes up, it is best to step back and take a deep breath and just explore your options for dealing with the problem at hand.
In addition, it is a wise idea to seek council from some successful individuals whom you trust. Getting another person’s perspective can give you an idea how the general public will react to the problem. Of course, getting a professional's help to deal with the PR mess isn't a bad idea either.
Be Proactive
Toyota faced a PR nightmare when several of their cars began experiencing a major malfunction, which caused the pedal to stick and the car to accelerate uncontrollably. It came out later that Toyota allegedly knew about this issue with the pedal for years and even made some changes to their vehicles being sold in Japan.
However, they neglected to be proactive in America and it came back to bite them in a major way, when their name was splashed all over the headlines of America’s news outlets due to the fact that their vehicles had a serious and dangerous malfunction. Had Toyota been proactive, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble by going ahead and fixing the issues with their cars, instead of waiting for problems to start accumulating.
The horrible PR that was birthed from the problems that arose would have been lessened greatly if Toyota had simply admitted there was an issue before it become a PR nightmare. In the same way, you as a business owner should not hesitate to rectify a situation if it is in your power to do so, because the PR problems that you will cause by trying to hide an issue are greater than those you would face if you just fess up.
Own up to the Mistake
When you are dealing with a PR nightmare that is a result of your product’s failure in some way, own up to the mistake and admit what happened.
Although it is best to be proactive as mentioned above, sometimes problems are simply accidents and no one sees them coming. Regardless of the type of problem, be it a manufacturing issue or any other kind of PR issue, things work out better when you simply admit you were wrong or made a mistake.
Don’t Hide
After an embarrassing incident that earned your business some negative PR, you may be tempted to go into hiding. However, although that is a natural human tendency, it is not the best way to handle a PR problem.
Show up, communicate, learn, grow, and keep improving and producing every day. You can even use the issue as an opportunity to enter other business fields, but whatever you do, don’t hide. It won’t solve anything and it just makes you appear uncaring and cowardly.
Make Amends
After your mistake has become public knowledge, you need to offer a solution to the problem. For example, if you produced a product that broke in some way, you should offer a refund or replacement for those products.
You can do this on your company’s site pretty easily. If it is as not as simple as a refund, and fixing the issue is going to take some time, then post regular updates on your site that let your customers know you are working to fix the situation and give them the time estimation on when you feel you should have a solution.
Follow Through on Your Promises
Once you have determined a way to make things right in regards to your customers and set a tentative timetable on the process, you should do everything in your power to ensure you keep your promise. If you see that things are not going as planned, be sure to communicate to customers or clients so they know what is going on.
Remember, you have let them down, so they probably are going to be a little leery of you. Respect and trust is earned, not demanded, so in some cases, you will have to earn the trust of your customers back. The best way to accomplish that is to follow through and keep your word.
A PR nightmare does not have to been the end of your business. Thankfully, you can overcome bad press and mistakes. However, it does take a concerted effort on your part, problems will not be fixed simply by ignoring them. Therefore, it is important to learn what to do if your business is ever faced with a PR crisis. The list above will help you do just that.
