3 Ways to Recover from Bad Press in Startup Tech Companies

When you’re the victim of bad press, it’s your responsibility to make things right.

Bad press is nerve wracking. It’s destructive. And sometimes, it’s impossible to avoid. Maybe there’s a bug in your system that compromises the privacy and security of your users’ data. Maybe you missed a major deadline, and you ended up launching late. Maybe a particularly bad review of your business went up online, and it’s influencing what people think of your brand.

The possibilities are limitless, but they all share a commonality: destructive pieces of information about your business are getting to the public. If you want to survive with your reputation intact, you have to take action.

Strategy One: Openly Acknowledge the Fault

Your first strategy is to get ahead of the bad press train before it fully takes off. Send out a press release or a public apology detailing the full truth of the event. The more open and honest you are, the more your customers will trust and respect you. This demonstration of accountability and recognition is often more than enough to make up for whatever prompted the negative press in the first place.

Strategy Two: Make It Up to the People Affected

Another strategy is to work to make things right with whoever was affected by the bad press. For example, if a customer leaves a powerful negative review about how he/she was treated by a customer service rep of yours, you’ll need to reach out directly and see if there’s anything you can do to make it up to him/her. If there was a glitch in your system, you could make it up to your customers by offering limited time discounts or free promotions.

Strategy Three: Keep Going

Your best bet is sometimes to just keep moving forward. After acknowledging the bad press, make it your responsibility to prevent any similar mistakes from happening in the future, and readdress your commitment to strong customer service.

With these three strategies, you should be able to recover from even the worst instances of bad press. Make the press your ally, and work to improve your reputation over the subsequent weeks and months.

About the Author

Jose Vasquez is a serial entrepreneur and tech specialist dedicated to helping startup tech companies grow and succeed. As the founder of Build. Brand. Blast., Jose has worked with dozens of enterprises to find direction, gain momentum, and achieve results.