Before you start reading this weeks edition try something, head to google.com and put your name in the search query and then search your company name. Make sure that you read all the way to page 4 and check the results. Go ahead, I have time?

Did you notice something unflattering being said about you, perhaps an upset customer or a BBB report? Oh, and did you do a google.com image search? I bet you never even knew about these less than flattering comments, but I can assure you that your prospective employers or customers are finding this information when they are researching your once good name.

After Shock
The initial shock of finding your good name sullied all over the Internet like a picture of Brittany in the tabloids can be a little unnerving. Most companies that search their name will find a posting or two from a supposed disgruntled customer. These post go on to tell a story about the incident, their inability to get resolution and their desire to “let everyone know” or to “save them the headache of dealing with you”.

Legitimacy
Its unfortunate but the Internet does not care about legitimacy or getting the story right. It is a scribe that simple records the annals of web history, scooping up both fact and fiction and presenting it unfiltered for all those who choose to see. Not fair but that’s the way it works. Google does not try to figure out if the posting was legitimate or if it is a competitor posting to taint your good name?

Everyone in the business world has at one time had a bad experience with a customer or a vendor. There has been that employee or co-worker gossiped around the water cooler, but the thing is that this type of negative publicity could haunt the next few years of your professional life.

What to do
If these complaints are legitimate, deal with them at the source; A negative customer experience left unchecked can mushroom into a much larger issue. Try to deal with the problem before it gets posted to the Internet. And deal with them just like any other PR issue. Post your customer care phone number on the web, setup a specific email address that gets checked every day to deal with customer complaints or support issues. Make sure that everyone in your organization is dedicated to fixing your issues so that they are not made public. Try to contact the customer, if you are able to track them down, resolve the issue and perhaps they will remove or update the negative comments. Or add a page to your website that tells your side of the story, but just make sure that you respond in public in an attempt to resolve the issue. Do not antagonize the situation, or you might get yourself involved in a
flamewar

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But?
If it’s not true and you should politely request the forum, blog or news site owner to remove the content. Post your own response in the comment section of the original article or ask them to consider posting your response as a separate post. Consult a lawyer for advice or find a reputation management / PR firm to help you deal with the statements. I will caution you on dealing with a lawyer, sometimes this works great; other times it backfires beyond the scope of the original complaint. You don’t want to get seen as the corporation that is trying to screw the little guy.

Keep up to date
You should be tracking everything about your company, your name, key employees, your products and their variations. Check search engines like google or yahoo for up to date information or just have them send it to you google and yahoo alerts The engines will send you an email notification whenever you are mentioned in their index. If you name is John Smith, try setting your alerts to your geographic region like “John Smith San Diego” to get better results.

Check the blog search engines like technorati.com, feedster.com . The blog world is a constant buzz with all the hot information; make sure that you don’t get caught in the whirlwind. Create a customer RSS search feed based on your keyword searches. Use monitorthis to track a single keyword in dozens of separate search engine feeds.

If all else fails?
If you need some help with reputation repair, let me know there are a few companies that I have worked with in the past that may be able to figure out your particular situation. Catch them fast, tread carefully while you work on resolving the issue.

Let me know how I can help.