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been done to the company’s reputation
in the long-term. However, like the
Dell example, it demonstrates the
power that consumers now have in
making or breaking a reputation and
how important it is that businesses
respond appropriately.
One-off events, good or bad, can
cause a sudden sea-change in opinion,
but ensuring consistent standards is an
obvious first step to a great reputation.
As general manager of London’s
iconic Grosvenor House hotel, Stuart
Bowery (below) has a considerable
reputation to uphold. At its prestigious
Park Lane address, Grosvenor House is
steeped in heritage, having welcomed
everyone from royalty and heads of
state to celebrities of the era since
its opening in 1929. Today, the JW
Marriott hotel hosts high profile events
for some of the most influential figures
in politics, business and entertainment.
“Generations of families have stayed
with us and many of the world’s best
hoteliers cut their teeth here; there’s
a long story behind this hotel,” says
Bowery. “Everything we do upholds
that heritage and reputation.”
For a customer-facing business such
as his, the error of just one person can
be very damaging, especially when
the bar is set so high. According to
Jason Nisse, who runs the emergency
relations practice at PR firm Fishburn
Hedges, reputation management
is about everything you do as an
organisation. “You have to ensure all
of your employees, all of your activities
and all of your public pronouncements
conform to the standard you set for
the organisation,” he says. “Otherwise,
When Jeff Jarvis
discovered
multiple faults with his new Dell
computer in 2005, he didn’t just call
the technical helpline. Turning to
his own online blog, Jarvis vented
his frustrations at the hardware and
the poor service he’d received in a
rant entitled ‘Dell sucks, Dell lies’.
The post soon became a honeypot
for other disgruntled Dell customers,
snowballing into what Jarvis described
as “a weblog mini-series”.
The whole episode should, of course,
have been small fry for Dell, one of the
largest technology corporations in the
world. Yet, Jarvis’s post was cited by
many when Dell’s customer satisfaction
rating, market share and share price all
subsequently fell in the US.
Research in Motion didn’t need to
scour the internet to feel the negativity
towards its Blackberry device in
October, 2011. Originating with server
problems in the UK, the 73-hour
network blackout spread to much of
the globe and led to an avalanche of
unhappy tweets. Blackberry users were
disgusted at the ongoing technical
problems and astonished by Research
in Motion’s ill-handling of the situation
– two tweets in three days and an
apparent lack of any kind of crisis
management plan.
It’s too early to tell what damage has
“To maintain
customer
loyalty you
have to look
after your
people”
— Reputation management —
the
manager
WINTER 2011
no amount of PR or marketing can
prevent your reputation being harmed
by the failings of the weakest link in
your organisation’s chain.” There must
be consistency in the messages that
you send out, he adds, whether that is
a public announcement to the media
and customers, internally to staff or to
suppliers and key stakeholders.
At Grosvenor House, that
means a clear set of standards and
expectations and well defined roles
and responsibilities. “I have to take
responsibility for articulating our
vision and the strategies that underpin
it to everyone who works here,” says
Bowery. “We support our staff with
ongoing training and development,
professional and personal,” he adds.
“To maintain and grow your customer
loyalty you have to look after your
primary asset... your people.”
Of course, to manage a reputation,
you must also be aware of what people
think of you and your organisation.
Online blogs, forums, review sites and
social networking sites such as Twitter
and Facebook can give you an ear to
the ground, as well as allowing you to
respond to complaints quickly. Nisse
recommends using the channels that
are most popular with your customers.
“If you know, for example, that many
of them use your company’s Facebook
page, then use that to connect and get
your message across,” he says.
An online presence also
demonstrates that you are an open
and accessible organisation. Grosvenor
House’s chairman, Bill Marriott,
blogs weekly, for example, while the
company’s various loyalty schemes
provide ample opportunities for
two-way communication between the
business and its customers.
That’s important, says Bowery,
because it enables them to address
any issues directly and early on.
“We’ll always try to reconcile a guest’s
problem before they leave the hotel,”
he says. “But we also respond to many
online comments and use an agency to
gather online feedback and collect and
analyse key data about the hotel
➽
Grosvenor House general
manager Stuart Bowery