You may have heard of etiquette, but have you heard of e-etiquette? It’s the practice of good behaviour when you are conducting yourself online. So many people are now online that businesses have swiftly wised up and followed suit, starting business websites and social media sites to appeal to their customers.
The trouble with an online audience is that a person is accountable for their online commentary. From their blog posts to the comments made on social media, businesses have to hold a certain level of tact and etiquette when they are talking to their customers and clients. After all, being online always leaves a paper trail that can always be dragged back up again.
You have to protect your reputation and your employees, and that is why you it’s advisable to get advice from specialists, such as Pinder Reaux & Associates, on the proper training your employees will need to conduct themselves online. The last thing your small business needs is to be in the middle of a scandal because of a rogue offensive photo or a Tweet that has gotten out of hand. That said, we’ve got some tips for you so that you can keep your business behaving nicely online.
- Professionalism. At every turn, people associated with your company need to ensure they are being professional. Racist and offensive jokes, pages that associate with groups that are considered to be fanatical and any type of online bullying can result in people being turned away from your company. You should ensure your employees are not associating themselves with anything that could put your company in a bad light indirectly.
- Tact. It’s something that is a little bit of a lost art, but your employees and your management team should be very tactful online. Customers like to complain on public social media channels so that other people can hear their experiences. It’s up to you to ensure that you are staying away from controversy and answering customers in a prompt and timely manner. Where possible, reply publicly after you have sorted the issue, so that the rest of the public can see you are a company worth following.
- Security. Your online and social media accounts should be as secure as you possibly can make them. This means that only trusted employees should hold the passwords to business pages online, and you only have management teams update them. Your secure password should be changed at least once a month on all platforms, to avoid hacking and fraud. You have to do your best to ensure spam accounts and fake accounts created by competitors are not going to emulate your company.
Overall, your online security puts your reputation at stake. Your company, whether large or small is going to be splashed across the internet. The best thing you can do is ensure training is done for every employee so that online conduct is professional, tactful and without bias or judgment. Once you’ve done this, you can ensure your company does not end up the victim of a lawsuit should someone say something out of turn.
