ORM- A bankable proposition

The concept of online reputation management shines glaringly bright as you see banks and financial institutions facing the whack due to negative publicity. In India, for the past few days, prominent banks have faced flak and considerable negative publicity thanks to a slew of online posts and news reports which accuse these financial institutions of mentally and physically harassing their customers.

In India and many other countries, private banks outsource the work to recovery agents or companies for recovery of debt. Such banks or their recovery agents employ pressure tactics or use aggressive language to coerce people to pay their existing debt or outstanding loan amount. Many bore the brunt silently and painfully, until recently when a major tabloid laid bare the shocking news of a person driven to suicide following the coercive measures adopted by the bank.

Thanks to the sensationalism and public outcry that spanned the media, online and offline, the bank received considerable negative publicity. The bank was directed to pay a huge sum of money as compensation to the family of the deceased. The media then launched a tirade against other banks too who had adopted aggressive pressure tactics as a recovery measure. There were reports of a person getting mentally tortured to the point of insanity, another customer’s 7 year old son getting victimized due to the continuous phone calls by the bank. Many stories still float both online and in tabloids and the media is hungry for more. The law has intervened and has prescribed a norm, those banks and financial institutions have to abide by, while employing collection agents. In fact, there is a talk of a movie being made on recovery agents.

Where does it all lead to when it comes to the online reputation management of these banks and financial institutions? For one, two of the major banks are contemplating discontinuation of personal loans because they are backed without any security. They do not want to be dragged in the dragnet. Banks and financial institutions are now wary about their online reputation management because negative posts from any unsatisfied customer can only rub salt to their wounds.

It is a ‘must’ to make sure that no negative post of any kind reaches the first two pages of a search engine like Google because it can harm the company’s reputation, market share and goodwill. It is high time, companies-banks or otherwise stay focused on consumer satisfaction and be sensitive to public interest. Online reputation management is a sure-shot way to rise above negative publicity like a veritable phoenix from the ashes. Trust online reputation management to make the best use of SEO and PR to formulate intelligent and honest content that are appealing to your customers while also taking care of your company’s profitability. ORM, obviously is a bankable proposition!