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 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 warningresponse-coordinator — During active crisissocial-listening — Monitoring recovery sentiment
1---2name: reputation-recovery3description: Build a phased reputation recovery plan after a crisis — from damage assessment through stakeholder communication, trust-rebuilding actions, and sentiment tracking. Use when: rebuilding brand reputation post-crisis, designing a public apology and accountability strategy, creating stakeholder-specific recovery communications, tracking sentiment recovery metrics, planning a PR damage-control roadmap, or recovering from a data breach, product recall, or public backlash.4license: MIT5---6
7# Reputation Recovery
8
9> Build a phased reputation recovery plan after a crisis — from damage assessment through stakeholder communication, trust-rebuilding actions, and sentiment tracking.
10
11## When to Use This Skill
12
13- **Post-crisis reputation rebuilding** (product recall, data breach, PR incident)
14- **Trust restoration** with customers, employees, investors, or public
15- **Designing accountability communications** (CEO apology, incident reports)
16- **Stakeholder-specific recovery planning** with prioritized outreach
17- **Tracking recovery metrics** against pre-crisis baselines
18
19## Methodology Foundation
20
21| Aspect | Details |
22|--------|---------|
23| **Source** | Edelman Trust Barometer, Burson reputation recovery frameworks |
24| **Core Principle** | Trust rebuilds through actions, not words — transparency, accountability, competence, then character, in that order |
25| **Recovery Phases** | Stabilize → Acknowledge → Act → Communicate → Measure |
26
27## What Claude Does vs What You Decide
28
29| Claude Does | You Decide |
30|-------------|------------|
31| Designs phased recovery roadmap with timelines | Investment level and resource allocation |
32| Drafts stakeholder communications and apology frameworks | Spokesperson selection and timing |
33| Creates measurement dashboards and recovery criteria | Acceptable recovery timeline |
34| Prioritizes stakeholder groups and actions | Which initiatives to fund |
35
36## Instructions
37
38### Step 1: Assess Reputation Damage
39
40Build a damage baseline across key dimensions:
41
42| Dimension | Pre-Crisis | Post-Crisis | Gap |
43|-----------|------------|-------------|-----|
44| Trust score | — | — | — |
45| NPS | — | — | — |
46| Brand sentiment (% positive) | — | — | — |
47| Media tone | — | — | — |
48| Customer retention | — | — | — |
49
50**Validation checkpoint:** If you lack pre-crisis baselines, estimate from industry benchmarks before proceeding.
51
52### Step 2: Map Recovery Phases
53
54| Phase | Duration | Focus | Exit Criteria |
55|-------|----------|-------|---------------|
56| **Stabilize** | Weeks 1-2 | Stop the bleeding, full accountability | Crisis chapter closed, compensation launched |
57| **Rebuild** | Months 1-3 | Demonstrate concrete structural changes | New processes in place, advisory board active |
58| **Demonstrate** | Months 3-6 | Build track record, earn positive coverage | 3 months positive media, trust at 80% baseline |
59| **Sustain** | Month 6+ | Long-term reputation building | Meet all recovery completion criteria |
60
61### Step 3: Prioritize Stakeholders
62
63| Stakeholder | Priority | Key Concern | Approach |
64|-------------|----------|-------------|----------|
65| Customers | P1 | Trust, safety | Transparency + compensation |
66| Employees | P1 | Job security, pride | Internal comms + involvement |
67| Investors | P2 | Financial impact | Recovery plan + milestones |
68| Partners | P2 | Association risk | Assurance + collaboration |
69| Regulators | P2 | Compliance | Cooperation + prevention |
70| Public | P3 | Values alignment | Actions over words |
71
72### Step 4: Execute Trust-Rebuilding Actions
73
74Apply the trust-rebuilding sequence (order matters):
75
76| Action Type | Examples | Timeline |
77|-------------|----------|----------|
78| **Transparency** | Full incident report, public updates, data access | Immediate |
79| **Accountability** | CEO apology, personnel changes, compensation | Week 1-2 |
80| **Competence** | New processes, third-party audits, team expansion | Month 1-3 |
81| **Character** | Values-aligned initiatives, sustained behavior change | Ongoing |
82
83**CEO apology framework:** Direct acknowledgment → What went wrong → What we've done → What we're doing → Personal accountability → How to reach us.
84
85### Step 5: Track Recovery
86
87| Metric | Frequency | Target |
88|--------|-----------|--------|
89| Brand sentiment | Weekly | Return to baseline |
90| Trust score | Monthly | 80% of pre-crisis |
91| NPS | Monthly | Return to positive |
92| Media tone | Weekly | Neutral → positive |
93| Customer retention | Monthly | Pre-crisis rate |
94
95**Recovery completion criteria:**
96- Trust score at 90% of pre-crisis level
97- Customer retention at pre-crisis rate
98- 3 consecutive months of positive media tone
99- NPS back to positive
100
101## Examples
102
103### Example: Product Safety Incident Recovery
104
105**Input:** Product safety incident, 3 weeks in crisis mode, 30% trust drop, 15% churn, issue resolved.
106
107**Recovery roadmap:**
108
109| Month | Phase | Key Actions |
110|-------|-------|-------------|
111| 1 | Stabilize | CEO video apology, full incident report, compensation program, employee town hall |
112| 1-3 | Rebuild | Safety team +3 hires, external advisory board, quarterly third-party audits |
113| 3-6 | Demonstrate | Public safety reports, customer testimonials, thought leadership content |
114| 6+ | Sustain | Ongoing transparency reports, industry standards participation |
115
116**Projected timeline:** 6-9 months to full recovery with aggressive action.
117
118See [TEMPLATES.md](TEMPLATES.md) for communication templates (CEO apology script, milestone update emails, stakeholder briefing outlines).
119
120## Skill Boundaries
121
122### What This Skill Does Well
123- Creating phased recovery roadmaps with concrete timelines
124- Designing stakeholder-specific communication strategies
125- Defining measurable recovery criteria and dashboards
126- Prioritizing trust-rebuilding actions in effective order
127
128### What This Skill Cannot Do
129- Access real-time sentiment data or social listening feeds
130- Know the specific details of your crisis without input
131- Predict exact recovery timelines (every crisis is unique)
132- Replace legal counsel or professional crisis management firms
133
134## References
135
136- Edelman Trust Barometer — annual trust research
137- Burson Reputation Recovery — crisis framework
138- Weber Shandwick Crisis Recovery — communications methodology
139- Harvard Business Review — trust research
140
141## Related Skills
142
143- `crisis-detector` — Prevention and early warning
144- `response-coordinator` — During active crisis
145- `social-listening` — Monitoring recovery sentiment
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