iIn today’s world of mobile devices and almost constant Internet connection, it is hard to not be involved in Social Media in one way or another. People are constantly sharing, conversing and writing reviews about their experiences. That is where reputation management comes into play.
If someone is talking negatively about your law firm or one of your attorneys, you can bet others are reading it. That is why reputation management is critical for anyone involved in the legal industry. Your law firm’s reputation, and even that of its individual partners, can affect whether a client calls you or your competition and can have a direct impact on the growth or decline of your law firm.
How Social Media Affects Law Firm Reputation Management
Social Media is a great tool for developing and maintaining your reputation. If you want an overview of your current reputation, all you need to do is perform a Google search for your law firm or brand name. What appears in the results will not just be your website. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and legal-specific sites like Avvo and Martindale will likely pepper the results page. These can all help you to appear more often in the search results. They can also help to manage your reputation by having control of your business listings and profiles.
Why Law Firms Should Use Social Media for Reputation Management
Having a handle on all your business profiles and listings and actively using them to interact with your audience allows you to build and monitor your reputation. By taking control of your social presence, you also prevent unethical competitors and marketers from posting inaccurate information or derogatory comments that can harm your reputation. Another benefit of actively using these Social Media channels is that it makes it much easier to respond to negative reviews or comments. It gives you a tool to gain positive reviews and comments from your satisfied clients across a variety of platforms, and it allows you to reach a larger audience of potential clients.
Utilizing Reputation Management Services
Trying to maintain and monitor all your social profiles may seem overwhelming. That is why many savvy lawyers are using services that do the monitoring and assist in responding to simple requests and issues. This allows you to respond to any hot issues in a timely manner. If you leave negative reviews and comments unattended, there is potential for them to be shared and possibly go viral. At that point, tremendous harm can be done to your law firm’s reputation and bottom line.
Again, keep in mind: It is not just your law firm but individual attorneys you want to monitor. A single unmonitored attorney who ends up with bad reviews can cause a loss of clients and harm your reputation without you ever knowing it – if you are not keeping a close eye.
What To Do About Bad Reviews?
“2% reduction in negative word of mouth boosts sales growth by 1%” – London School of Economics
While you want customers talking about you and providing feedback, it is still up to you to respond to negative comments and reviews about specific issues so that they can be turned into a positive result. While a negative review is bad, it is a great opportunity for you to turn something bad into something good by taking timely action. Since negative reviews and comments are public, and everyone can see them, you can show off your customer support and satisfaction by turning an unsatisfied client into a satisfied client. Respond and fix the issue if it can be done without the requirement of much discussion. If it does require a more gentle touch, then contact the client offline and correct the issue. After the negative review has been addressed, leave a response to the negative review or comment about how the situation was corrected in a timely manner.
It is easy to build a bad reputation without even knowing it. A bad customer experience can lead to an unsolved issue. That sour taste in your disgruntled client’s mouth can easily spread in the online social ecosystem. That in turn leads to lost revenue because potential clients read about these bad experiences and will likely run to your competition for legal service.
How to Start
Learn to use Social Media sites as tools. Google+, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many other sites are great sources of reputation building. Join groups, communities and discussions and answer questions that are being asked. This shows how knowledgeable you are in your specific practice area and builds your reputation as an expert.
Word-of-mouth marketing is not just spoken word anymore. It has moved online and is spread via comments and reviews through all variety of social sites.
