Biz tip of the week: How to fix negative perceptions

Since it is human nature to believe the worst, negative perceptions can be especially sticky and difficult to defuse.

Negative perceptions can seriously harm a company's revenue line by undermining a product's brand. For example, product recalls can cripple a product's quality image (think Toyota).

Unresponsive customer service drives customers away. A satisfied customer will refer you to a friend. A dissatisfied customer will tell 10 people.

An experienced business person knows that measuring lost sales is an extremely difficult task.

What steps can be taken to reverse negative perceptions?

• Identify and acknowledge the problem. What are the facts and their source? Internal group dynamics tend to discount any outside threat. Perception issues must be taken seriously.

• Attack the problem head-on. This requires a two-pronged strategy of correcting the operational issues and then developing a communications plan to broadcast a positive message to your marketplace.

• Adopt aggressive marketing tactics to attract customers to return. Most people are willing to give an offender a second chance provided they are convinced they won't be burned again. A sincere apology and a discount coupon or other material incentive usually works.

• Provide updates concerning the situation. Honest testimonials from satisfied customers are an effective way to keep customers in the know that the problem was taken seriously, and was corrected. If your product or service market is large enough to support a third-party survey, use it to monitor your progress.

Perception reversals take time and the corrective actions may generate uneven results. Make the changes, stay the course and learn from your mistakes.

Ralph Hershberger is president of SCORE Southern Arizona, a nonprofit group that offers free small-business counseling and mentoring by appointment. See www.southernarizona.score.org or call 505-3636.