The article below originally appeared on www.JeremyDunlap.com and www.jeremydunlaponline.blogspot.com. The interview is with Steven C. Wyer, Managing Director of Reputation Advocate.
Everyday, you and I are customers. We are consuming goods and services that range from a cup of coffee, to getting the brakes on our car repaired, to shopping for that special person’s birthday. Whether we realize it or not, we are always looking for the next customer service experience. The decisions we make concerning where we spend our money are greatly impacted by two factors: advertising and word-of-mouth (the opinion of others). How important is word-of-mouth to your business or corporation?
There is an old customer service fact/saying that for each customer that leaves your business happy, they will return and bring one more customer with them. Yet for every customer that leaves your business unhappy - they take eleven customers with them! And what if that unhappy customer takes his/her case to the Internet? In the world of online rankings, customer reviews, easy-to-establish blogs and anonymity, you may lose more than just eleven customers as you lose your online reputation. And even worse, what if the “unhappy customer” was not even a customer at all? It could be a former employee, a former partner, mad family member, a former lover, or anyone who felt wronged by you. How do we handle this customer service gone bad nightmare?
I stepped out of the training, development, and motivational speaking world to speak with Steven C. Wyer of Reputation Advocate. Without any hesitation, I write the next line. The words you read in this JerSpeaks blog entry coming from Steven C. Wyer concerning online reputation could be some of the most important words I have written in a long time. Let’s see what Steven C. Wyer, an expert in the field of online reputation management, had to say about online slander.
Jeremy Dunlap: Steven, there is little doubt that online slander is a growing issue, not only in America but world wide. A simple internet search and one can find sites from how to write online slander to sites helping protect people from online slander. What do we do if we get hit with online slander?
Steven C. Wyer: Talk to Reputation Advocate immediately! Seriously, it is becoming a major issue. And the tough part is that a victim of online slander cannot confront their accuser. In addition, the court system has very narrow area in which to address this growing problem. A business has to adopt a new mindset. They have to monitor their online presence constantly. And they have to develop the websites, press releases, blogs, articles and so-on-so-forth to keep the positive material at the top of the search engines. At Reputation Advocate, we are personally seeing an increase number in businesses retaining our services, before they need us to help them suppress negative content.
Jeremy Dunlap: Steven, you have lived this - correct?
Steven C. Wyer: Oh yes.
Jeremy Dunlap: Tell us some of your story and how you founded the company Reputation Advocate
Steven C. Wyer: We have all heard the statement that necessity is the mother of all invention; starting Reputation Advocate evolved out of my own experience with online slander. Cultivating a thirty five year work history within several regulated industries had served me well professionally. I was able to fairly represent that I had never been involved in business litigation with any client and was held in some esteem by my peers. In 2001 I founded a company that was funded through a series of partnerships. While comprehensive legal work was done to insure that compliance with federal securities laws were meant, after the capital was raised and assets purchased our funding methodology was challenged by the Securities Exchange Commission. While the presumption of innocence is presented a basic right to all Americans, the Internet presented quite a different reality. The authority of government documents and legal websites papered the Internet with unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations made in government filings. While the federal court ruled many times in our favor and went out of its way to question the validity of the legal actions taken, none of that information ever appeared in the search results for my name. The first five pages (50 postings) were all court documents that could only lead someone to the conclusion that I had blatantly violated numerous federal laws and perpetrated unspeakable acts against the public.
As I mentioned, the courts ruled many times in my favor, made very positive affirming statements in public federal court rulings and rulings in my favor were even upheld through the SEC appeal process. None of this information could be found online.
My education about search results, page rank and online reputation management developed out of my own need. A reputation without professional blemish for 30 plus years was called into question. Unproven allegations were instantly delivered to anyone searching my name and there was nothing to be found that presented any fair or balanced presentation of the facts; nothing.
Reputation Advocate was built on processes that I utilized to present my own digital identity. I always tell people that if it can happen to me, it can happen to them. When I was blindsided there was no company I could find to help me, but for those slandered as I was, there is now Reputation Advocate.
Jeremy Dunlap: Can you tell us anything about the process of, in your words, suppressing negative online content?
Steven C. Wyer: I always say that at Reputation Advocate we go above and beyond in our process. Bottom line, we take top search engine key words and develop content. A baseline service for a client would entail developing a minimum of 3 websites, a minimum of 20 original and unique articles, a minimum of 50 social and profile sites, at least 1 widely syndicated press release, and at least 5 blogs. Now we would do all of that work for just one keyword! Many times for a client there will be 5 to 10 keywords. So we would, at a minimum, repeat that process for each keyword! And the reason for so many keywords is that we can ensure any way our client is searched, the searcher will find the positive material, not the suppressed negative comment.
Jeremy Dunlap: So how is the work that Reputation Advocate performs different from, say, a Search Engine Optimization company?
Steven C. Wyer: Night and day. And before I answer your question, I feel it is important to say that what search engine optimization companies (SEO) do and the service they provide is crucial. It is an important business. However, the work that Reputation Advocate performs is more labor intensive in a completely different manner. SEO work is to push consumers, through word placement, to a particular static website. Our work is to help business owners and corporations suppress online slander. SEOs push consumers to purchase. What Reputation Advocate does is push consumers away from the negative – many times unjustly written – slander. And as we already discussed, the work is extremely intensive.
Jeremy Dunlap: So in the work that Reputation Advocate does, all the websites developed, words written, online monitoring and so-on-so-forth, would you say you use tactics?
Steven C. Wyer: Absolutely. And let me explain what I mean. We get the term "tactic" from military origins. Bottom line, the term means to move someone or an entity to a desired position. So we use tactics, or as I share with clients, we use strategically oriented plans to suppress content and move consumers in other directions to positive content.
And here is the reality about online slander. The individuals who are slandering are definitely using tactics. Think about it. They are using their words, many times anonymously, to move people away from a business or corporation. And then you throw into the mix of anonymous slander that many times we find that they are ex-partners (I have lived this first hand), former friends, fired employees, previous lovers and so-on. Do you begin to see what I mean by the "other side" using tactics?
Jeremy Dunlap: Yes. What percentage of slander is false from such individuals?
Steven C. Wyer: That is difficult to say. I just know that I sit on the phone with these folks. They call us, some in tears, saying "I'm almost sure where this is coming from" or "I can't make them stop." I hear the stories. Often in the office we receive great satisfaction from helping good people.
Jeremy Dunlap: Is it your opinion, that we need stronger laws protecting companies, small businesses and corporations from online slander?
Steven C. Wyer. We need stronger laws with stronger penalties. And I won't go into all the details other than to say, that enforcement of such laws can be very difficult.
Jeremy Dunlap: What is the process if a company or business experiences online slander? How do they contact you?
Steven C. Wyer: They need to simply pick up the phone and call Reputation Advocate at: 888-229-0746. They can also visit our website at: http://www.reputationadvocate.com/
Jeremy Dunlap: Steven C. Wyer, thank you for your time. I think our readers who have sat in Customer Service Training will find your story, advice, and words extremely compelling.
Steven C. Wyer is the managing partner of Reputation Advocate. Reputation Advocate is a Tennessee based search engine reputation management company. Steven C. Wyer can be contacted at Reputation Advocate by going to HYPERLINK "http://www.reputationadvocate.com/" http://www.reputationadvocate.com/ and by visiting wordpress.stevenwyer.com.
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