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A Highlight on Reputation Management Agencies’s Services:
Reputation management agencies are businesses that offer to improve your business’s online reputation by boosting your Google rankings, creating positive articles and reviews, and fighting off negative comments and articles about your company. However, there are several things that these agencies may do that can ultimately harm your business’ reputation instead of helping it. We have come up with the nine ways you can be deceived by a reputation management agency.
#1 Not Giving Accurate Feedback
The feedback they give isn’t entirely accurate and it’s hard to tell if they are being honest or not. There’s always a chance that they are trying to hide something or have some other agenda. Not being honest can damage your reputation, so be wary of any company that doesn’t give you accurate feedback about your business online. If you aren’t getting honest feedback then there is no point in using them at all!
#2 Offering Inflated Case Studies
Case studies are useful in helping convince clients that their services are effective. But when these case studies don’t pass muster, companies can make hay out of them—inflating their numbers and making them appear far more significant than they actually are. Often these cases do come with disclaimers, but they’re buried at best and lost at worst. The result is a false sense of security for potential clients who might have been better off going to a smaller company from day one.
#3 Being Overly Optimistic
It’s important to be realistic when it comes to what you can expect from a firm. They may claim to have a 100% positive response, but that doesn’t mean you will end up with a ton of new customers. Be realistic about your expectations and ask for case studies and samples of previous work.
Sometimes companies only show their best work or don’t present it in an entirely honest way – make sure they tell you both sides of every story. Just because someone has been in business for decades, don’t assume they are perfect. Take some time to do your research on them and speak with other business owners who may have worked with them to get a good idea of what their reputation is within the industry.
#4 Not Giving Enough Timeframes
Ask when you can expect to hear back from someone. If they say soon, ask for a specific timeframe. Then, check in again when that time frame arrives to be sure they haven’t forgotten about you. It’s important to not only make them aware of your expectations but also be clear with them what your process is going forward, so there are no surprises later down the road. #5 Being Too Flaky: The same goes for being too flaky—don’t create a sense of urgency and then leave people hanging or delay follow-up actions or responses for a prolonged period without good reason. Making others wait endlessly isn’t polite and it won’t get you far in business either.
#5 Offering No Guarantees
Reputation management services can offer guarantees, but some of these companies have been known to provide a poor level of service, which will ultimately result in a dissatisfied customer who then goes online to write a negative review. A reputation management agency that offers no guarantee is not worth your time or money.
A strong reputation management service should be able to back up their claims with hard data. They should also offer a money-back guarantee on their services if you’re not satisfied with them after 30 days. In any case, avoid reputation management companies that refuse to provide you with any type of guarantee.
#6 Not Addressing Issues Head-On
There’s an old saying that there are two sides to every story. If you’re an online reputation management agency, here’s one side of your story: You offer top-notch service that can right wrongs quickly and efficiently.
That’s why clients refer other clients to you, why current customers come back again and again, and it’s how you get new business leads. Here’s another side of your story: Some customers will never be satisfied no matter what; they’ll tell everyone who will listen (or won’t listen) about how poorly they were treated by your agency.
#7 Failing to Deliver on Promises
No one wants to be a sucker. Make sure your online reputation agency is on schedule and tasks are performed on a daily basis. If you’re paying for reputation management services, make sure that you know what you are getting. Before hiring a reputation agency, ask for some references and read some reviews. And check out their portfolio of work; no one is perfect, but it should give you an idea of how they operate.
This will not only help ensure that your money is spent wisely but also ensure that your reputation is handled properly by professionals who know what they are doing (and not some random company with some fancy-sounding name).
#8 Covering Their Tracks
Look for work that’s been done off-shore and then brought back to be presented as original work. Copy and paste is a dead giveaway, and you can find it pretty easily by changing a few words here and there on one of their previous pieces of work.
Be suspicious of people who want to do everything via email or who refuse to give you references for previous clients; some companies make up their customers! Finally, if an agency wants to hire you as a copywriter (which doesn’t make sense), run away – they might just want someone else to write content for them!
#9 Ignoring Negative Comments Instead of Responding To Them
Though a reputation management agency may be doing a good job, they can easily do a bad one if they don’t respond to negative comments. If someone leaves a negative comment on your business’ page, then that means it’s an opportunity for you to find out what’s wrong with that company. Don’t just trust that every single comment will be positive!
Conclusion
There is nothing wrong with using reputation management agencies. The services they provide are essential to business growth, and for some companies, it may be their only option to improve their online reputation. However, before hiring an agency do your research. Check sites like Ripoff Report or Pissed Consumer to learn about what other people are saying about past clients.
Use Google Analytics’ keyword tool to see what people are searching for on search engines when they come across your company name. Make sure that whatever services you choose, including a reputation management agency, will be able to provide long-term results rather than short-term gains. Choose an agency that is upfront with all fees, guarantees its work, and provides references of previous clients who you can contact.
