Part 3: Managing Past Customers And Your Online Reputation

Your business' reputation is largely built on your previously served customers' perceived value and their ensuing word-of-mouth. A customer with a bad experience and little or no resolution can be toxic for your ability to gain further clientele, and not all customers speak up until after the sale or delivery.

Offline complaints should be handled privately, but that's not always possible with the democratization of the internet. Now, opinions gain wide and rapid publicity, as customers can share their experiences on a virtually endless array of channels, from blogs to forums to online complaint services such as ComplaintsBoard.com.

This exposure can be intimidating, but it is something to be embraced. Your offline reputation is much trickier to find and influence after-the-fact, making online media a unique opportunity to change opinions and showcase your dedication.

While many clients with public misgivings will not come back for repeat business, the central theme here isn't to appease the past client but to impress the potential client, painting a positive image of your business for all who read these reviews.

Several months ago, a past client posted a complaint online saying that our product failed to match his expectations. During the process, we had attempted to apologize, correct, and compensate, but sometimes you just can't make it to the continue phase. This is when having your cards on the table from day one can really help.

Instead of acting defensively or letting the review slip by, we responded candidly about the experience, pointing to our efforts to rectify the situation and still offering our help and listening ears. I was gratified when a number of previous clients found and joined the conversation as well, defending us and our services.

We ended up generating sales from this topic instead of scaring away prospective buyers. What is the lesson? Generally, people understand that disagreements happen and are more interested in finding a business willing to take responsibility than in finding a business with a clear complaint history, the latter of which should raise questions of its own.