Behaviors Causing Bad Reputations

Calling Out Behaviors That Contribute To Bad Reputations

Sadly, it seems as though with customer contact increasingly being carried out via electronic media, there is a temptation for companies to deal with clients in a sterile, impersonal and often, uncaring manner.

It is easy for organizations to feel that they can use their power and size to render them immune to treating at least some of their customers unkindly, or disrespectfully. When these situations come to our attention, a Reputational Risk Report will be used to invite the organizations to reconsider and, if appropriate, explain their behavior and hopefully to modify in favor of maintaining a good reputation.

Bad Reputation Behaviors

Bad Reputation Cartoon By John Paling

Powerful people can still try to take advantage of others when they’ve nothing left to give. And they can’t pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they don’t even have boots!

Part of the mission of the Reputational Risk Institute is to influence uncaring organizations to recognize that their actions can be very painful and unjust to regular people who deserve to be treated better.

Thus we intend that our initial reports be seen as a helpful form of third-party feedback which gives the organization an opportunity to learn what it may be overlooking.

After several respectful attempts to get some genuine acknowledgment of the incident(s) of concern and, if relevant, an acceptance of a need to change we will take further actions.

However, if the organizations in question do not challenge the suggestion that their actions are incompatible with meriting a good reputation, then our organization will publicize that fact via appropriate websites and also via press releases to the media.

Those running a competitive business or large organizations can be tempted to take advantage of the relative powerlessness of clients who should in practice be seen as partners.

The goal in all cases is to encourage sensitive, caring and respectful treatment of customers and clients.

The way some businesses treat their customers often reflects an attitude that their power means that they just don’t need to care about people they see as relatively unimportant. There can be a chasm of difference between organizations that claim they care about people and the actual experiences of customers in real life!

Our opinion is that the future will see a major change in the balance between the power of companies to dominate by websites and the reasonable expectations of customers who currently have few choices but to accept the treatment that’s given.

Nervous Man