reputation-recovery

What this skill does

# Reputation Recovery

> Build a phased reputation recovery plan after a crisis — from damage assessment through stakeholder communication, trust-rebuilding actions, and sentiment tracking.

## When to Use This Skill

- **Post-crisis reputation rebuilding** (product recall, data breach, PR incident)
- **Trust restoration** with customers, employees, investors, or public
- **Designing accountability communications** (CEO apology, incident reports)
- **Stakeholder-specific recovery planning** with prioritized outreach
- **Tracking recovery metrics** against pre-crisis baselines

## Methodology Foundation

| Aspect | Details |
|--------|---------|
| **Source** | Edelman Trust Barometer, Burson reputation recovery frameworks |
| **Core Principle** | Trust rebuilds through actions, not words — transparency, accountability, competence, then character, in that order |
| **Recovery Phases** | Stabilize → Acknowledge → Act → Communicate → Measure |

## What Claude Does vs What You Decide

| Claude Does | You Decide |
|-------------|------------|
| Designs phased recovery roadmap with timelines | Investment level and resource allocation |
| Drafts stakeholder communications and apology frameworks | Spokesperson selection and timing |
| Creates measurement dashboards and recovery criteria | Acceptable recovery timeline |
| Prioritizes stakeholder groups and actions | Which initiatives to fund |

## Instructions

### Step 1: Assess Reputation Damage

Build a damage baseline across key dimensions:

| Dimension | Pre-Crisis | Post-Crisis | Gap |
|-----------|------------|-------------|-----|
| Trust score | — | — | — |
| NPS | — | — | — |
| Brand sentiment (% positive) | — | — | — |
| Media tone | — | — | — |
| Customer retention | — | — | — |

**Validation checkpoint:** If you lack pre-crisis baselines, estimate from industry benchmarks before proceeding.

### Step 2: Map Recovery Phases

| Phase | Duration | Focus | Exit Criteria |
|-------|----------|-------|---------------|
| **Stabilize** | Weeks 1-2 | Stop the bleeding, full accountability | Crisis chapter closed, compensation launched |
| **Rebuild** | Months 1-3 | Demonstrate concrete structural changes | New processes in place, advisory board active |
| **Demonstrate** | Months 3-6 | Build track record, earn positive coverage | 3 months positive media, trust at 80% baseline |
| **Sustain** | Month 6+ | Long-term reputation building | Meet all recovery completion criteria |

### Step 3: Prioritize Stakeholders

| Stakeholder | Priority | Key Concern | Approach |
|-------------|----------|-------------|----------|
| Customers | P1 | Trust, safety | Transparency + compensation |
| Employees | P1 | Job security, pride | Internal comms + involvement |
| Investors | P2 | Financial impact | Recovery plan + milestones |
| Partners | P2 | Association risk | Assurance + collaboration |
| Regulators | P2 | Compliance | Cooperation + prevention |
| Public | P3 | Values alignment | Actions over words |

### Step 4: Execute Trust-Rebuilding Actions

Apply the trust-rebuilding sequence (order matters):

| Action Type | Examples | Timeline |
|-------------|----------|----------|
| **Transparency** | Full incident report, public updates, data access | Immediate |
| **Accountability** | CEO apology, personnel changes, compensation | Week 1-2 |
| **Competence** | New processes, third-party audits, team expansion | Month 1-3 |
| **Character** | Values-aligned initiatives, sustained behavior change | Ongoing |

**CEO apology framework:** Direct acknowledgment → What went wrong → What we've done → What we're doing → Personal accountability → How to reach us.

### Step 5: Track Recovery

| Metric | Frequency | Target |
|--------|-----------|--------|
| Brand sentiment | Weekly | Return to baseline |
| Trust score | Monthly | 80% of pre-crisis |
| NPS | Monthly | Return to positive |
| Media tone | Weekly | Neutral → positive |
| Customer retention | Monthly | Pre-crisis rate |

**Recovery completion criteria:**
- Trust score at 90% of pre-crisis level
- Customer retention at pre-crisis rate
- 3 consecutive months of positive media tone
- NPS back to positive

## Examples

### Example: Product Safety Incident Recovery

**Input:** Product safety incident, 3 weeks in crisis mode, 30% trust drop, 15% churn, issue resolved.

**Recovery roadmap:**

| Month | Phase | Key Actions |
|-------|-------|-------------|
| 1 | Stabilize | CEO video apology, full incident report, compensation program, employee town hall |
| 1-3 | Rebuild | Safety team +3 hires, external advisory board, quarterly third-party audits |
| 3-6 | Demonstrate | Public safety reports, customer testimonials, thought leadership content |
| 6+ | Sustain | Ongoing transparency reports, industry standards participation |

**Projected timeline:** 6-9 months to full recovery with aggressive action.

See [TEMPLATES.md](TEMPLATES.md) for communication templates (CEO apology script, milestone update emails, stakeholder briefing outlines).

## Skill Boundaries

### What This Skill Does Well
- Creating phased recovery roadmaps with concrete timelines
- Designing stakeholder-specific communication strategies
- Defining measurable recovery criteria and dashboards
- Prioritizing trust-rebuilding actions in effective order

### What This Skill Cannot Do
- Access real-time sentiment data or social listening feeds
- Know the specific details of your crisis without input
- Predict exact recovery timelines (every crisis is unique)
- Replace legal counsel or professional crisis management firms

## References

- Edelman Trust Barometer — annual trust research
- Burson Reputation Recovery — crisis framework
- Weber Shandwick Crisis Recovery — communications methodology
- Harvard Business Review — trust research

## Related Skills

- `crisis-detector` — Prevention and early warning
- `response-coordinator` — During active crisis
- `social-listening` — Monitoring recovery sentiment