What Is Your Company’s Brand and Reputation Worth?
By Sue Voyles / August 9, 2016 / crisis communication, effective communications
It’s no secret that corporate communications is now a 24/7 endeavor. Through social media, your customers are talking all the time. The question is: are you listening?
If you read Sales Encounters of a Different Kind, you learned like I did that it pays to ask more questions when interviewing prospects. In Maybe DIY Isn’t for Everything, I challenged the trend that DIY marketing is the right way to grow your company.
Whether you handle all of your business communications yourself or you contract with a firm, the learning never ends.
I recently faced a situation where I was quoting social media management to a prospect. I gave him a quote and his response was that he could get “some buddies” of his to do Facebook posting at a much lower rate. While this isn’t quite DIY, it’s pretty close.
So I’d like to ask a few questions:
Q: Will your friends monitor your business FB page for negative comments and alert you immediately so you can manage your company’s reputation?
Q: Is your FB page a priority to someone who’s doing your posting as a side gig to their regular full-time job
Q: What happens when they are sick, on vacation, out of town, or get ‘too busy’ to post for a few days?
Q: What is your company’s brand and reputation worth?
While your friends might catch a negative comment, do they have the professional communications experience to help you come up with an appropriate response before the potential negative news gets shared all over the internet? Time can be of the essence in these situations and a communications pro is going to react with urgency.
When you engage with a professional communications agency, they are dedicated to your success. They WANT you to look good and their team is going to be there to support you when a negative comment pops up on social media, a former employee starts badmouthing your firm on their blog, your office burns down … you get the idea.
I have received calls and texts from clients on nights, weekends and while out of town. When they needed immediate communications help, I was there for them. That’s what you are paying the professionals for – to be there when you need them.
If you are still totally committed to a DIY approach, be prepared. A crisis will happen. Download our free Crisis Communications Tip Sheet. Do the work in advance so you are prepared for any situation.
-Sue Voyles
