So you’re taking marketing advice from your mom eh? Why else would you opt for the “just ignore it” defense when you’re being picked on by consumer bullies?
These days a digital uppercut can really mess you up. You’re right to revere consumers’ power, especially the loud ones. But that doesn’t mean you should run scared into your office, slam the door and download some virus-carrying email hoping to crash your own computer and rid yourself of the criticism.
Modern consumerism is ALL about heat so you have to be willing to live in the oven.
We all want to generate buzz around our product, brand or service. We want to get people excited, interested and enthusiastic about our new addition to the global market. But as your profile rises, you’ll have to recognize that communication is a two-way street. People will talk about you, but will you listen to them?
If you get nothing else from this entry, please take this…you can’t ignore the heat, you have to learn to use it. MGH has outlined two of the many compelling ways WOM can help you manage negative feedback in the modern consumer culture.
Open communication gives you a valuable crisis tool: Picture yourself in your office high-rise looking out over your consumers down on the street. When a crisis strikes (bad publicity, poor customer service, catastrophic product issue) you can do one of two things:
- Grab your megaphone and yell out the window from your corporate tower above. You can do your best to assuage consumer’s complaints and fears, but from above, you’re a faceless corporate mouthpiece with no market credibility.
OR
- Get out a bit every day and spend time on the street (or in your consumer’s habitat) so that when a crisis occurs, you simply go as yourself into the communities that know and respect you. With that kind of credibility your chances of dispelling rumors, handling controversies and re-connecting with your customer base is a more natural and manageable task.
Backstabbing is easy when you won’t face your assailant: If someone is trying to tell you something and you simply won’t dignify them with a response, recognition or even a gesture of interest, you can expect compound negativity. Shielding yourself from the heat means ignoring the consumer and thus providing them with another reason to stab you in the back. In this digital era, backstabbing can go global in seconds, so turning to face your consumer immediately is more important than ever. Word of mouth communications allows you to be forward-facing every day, and CSI teaches us it’s harder to stab someone in the back when they’re facing you.
