Your reputation is the lifeblood of your dance business. Every day—one customer, one client at a time—you work hard to maintain it. A good reputation boosts sales, attracts new customers, and makes them value the quality of everything you offer.
But reputations can take a hit. One incident can blow up, especially online, and all that hard work can feel lost. And let’s face it: The last few years have been tough. Staff shortages, product delays, closures, and tariff confusion have made running a smooth operation nearly impossible.
The good news is there are better days ahead. These tarnished reputations create an opportunity for your dance business to shine even brighter. The key is to be intentional about repairing your reputation, and you’ll find it can help your business rise above the competition. Start at Step 3 of the guide below for a general reputational boost. If your business has taken a bigger hit, start at Step 1—and remember, reputations can be repaired.
Step 1: Assess the Damage
Monitor what is being said about your store or dancewear product online. Search hashtags that are relevant to your business. Monitor Facebook groups. Establish the scope of the problem so you don’t over- or underreact.
Work to understand why people are upset. What’s the sentiment? What words are being used? That sentiment is what you’ll need to address; using the exact words they use will help you connect better.
Step 2: Apologize
Don’t make excuses. Be clear and transparent. There are probably mitigating factors, reasons why things happened. Don’t whine; no one cares. When you include excuses in your apology it will only muddy your message. You messed up. You’re sorry. Done.
Step 3: Make the Changes
Identify any underlying problem and fix it. Set up policies and procedures so it won’t happen again. Make sure your customers know about the changes. Think of these changes as a way to make your company better—they are a key step in restoring your reputation.
Step 4: Stop Talking About the Problem
Avoid feeding the fire. Don’t keep everyone’s attention focused on the past. Change the conversation and move on.
Step 5: Get Others Talking Positively
Get your champions to talk about you. Reach out to your best customers, and ask them to write a review. Drown the bad news in good. There are people who love you; get them to speak up. Now.
Step 6: Do Good Things
After you’ve apologized and fixed the problem, it’s time to do some good deeds. Sponsor dancers, help a local charity, do the good you were doing before. Just make sure you get coverage about what you’re doing. Put it on your social media, on your blog, and, as often as possible, in your local press.
Day to Day: How to Keep Your Reputation Glowing
Get in front of any problems. It takes seven to 10 times more effort to restore a reputation than it takes to maintain it. That’s why it’s always better to solve a problem before it gets out of control. Deal with any customer complaints quickly and fairly. Take any complaint resolution offline so you’re not solving it in public.
Monitor online conversations. That way, you can nip a problem in the bud. A great way to do this is to set up Google alerts for your business. It’s easy to do; just follow the instructions here.
Burnish an already good reputation. A stellar reputation is the best way to fight efforts to tarnish your business, but think of it as a fire that you need to keep stoking. Have an ongoing system for asking good customers for reviews. And feature great reviews on your website’s home page.
Make sure the reality of your business matches your reputation. If there’s a gap between perception and reality, customers will inevitably be disappointed and, eventually, reality wins. Your reputation will suffer. So fix the reality to match the reputation you want.
Don’t let your reputation get left behind. People’s expectations change. Your performance needs to keep up with the times, with what customers care about now. Otherwise, what once was a stellar reputation may just seem “meh.”
Be clear about your values. Make sure they are stated on your website’s “About Us” page. Be humble about them. We are all trying to be better, but we aren’t perfect. Make sure that your values statement reflects that. People will then cut you some slack should you stumble.
The Bottom Line
Our dance businesses’ reputations are one of our key assets. And that asset has taken a hit over the last few years. It’s time to create a plan to buff it up, and keep it front and center. Always have a plan to recover when we do stumble. The well-being of our businesses depends on it.
Gilbert Russell is president of Brio Bodywear, which has two brick-and-mortar dancewear stores in Ottawa, Canada. Through his consulting firm No Qualms Retail, he shares his experience and knowledge with other independent retailers.