2008 July : …words

Archive for July, 2008

Don’t Start Fights, But Do Finish Them

July 24th 2008 Posted at General Information
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From time to time I am reminded of something that my father said to me when I was a young man, working on finding my place in the world:

“Don’t ever start a fight, because you always lose in the end. But if you have to fight, finish it.”

Of course, he was talking about a different kind of finish, but the principle is the same. If you get into a fight, in the long run you both always lose. Sure, you may “beat” the person that you are fighting with, but that falls into the category of winning the battles and losing the war. You can never win a fight on someone else’s blog, forum, or message board. It’s their house, their rules. Never forget, once something is on the internet, it is there forever.

Write your responses for future readers, the people that may discover your conflict via search or a viral discussion.

Do not write for the attacker.
Do not put them down.
Explain your position, and why you maintain it.
Show that you have principles and values.

You may not be able to make the critic happy, but every future reader will see that you worked toward a positive end.

People Run from Giant Robots

July 22nd 2008 Posted at General Information
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Your marketing needs to have a human voice. Or, to put it another way, your marketing must have a human voice!
Don’t spool out the “Marketing Department Approved” corporate answer to a negative post or review. When the robots come out to speak the pre-recorded gobbledy-gook, people run. Or point and stare.

Speak with a human voice

For that matter, don’t send a form letter to someone who takes the time to write about (or to) you and your business in a positive way. Be a real person. Make a sincere contribution to the conversation.
Because a conversation is a two-way interaction, you get to put something in, and you get to take something out. The robots just push the answers out to the masses, and who cares if these are the answers that the people are looking for. They are the answers that the robots like, and don’t make the robot’s jobs any harder.

It is hard work

That is the dirty secret of marketing, and especially for Word of Mouth. It’s easy for someone to angrily attack a faceless corporation — but when Daria or Natalie replies there is a name, a human name. The anger gets a chance to dissipate, the argument gets a chance to transform. It can turn into a discussion.

You have to take the first step, and let the angry (or disappointed or whatever) customer tell you what is really bothering them. Then fix it, not to your satisfaction, to theirs. You will have to work harder, at first. But keep in mind that the conversation will transform your business and make it easier. Make it more successful.

Give you more time for fishin’. Give your customers a reason to write something like this [link].

Responding to Negativity

July 21st 2008 Posted at General Information
3 Comments

Google “Dell Hell”. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Or click this image to read about it from the source.

What is to be learned here?

You should definitely respond to negative posts. In fact, you simply must respond quickly and carefully. Say you’re sorry, offer to fix the problem, and provide contact information. There are few things more frustrating to a consumer than attempting to reach someone in customer service and getting the run-around. Or a stream of automated form e-mails.

Get a person involved, even if it is an answering service that will take a message and provide additional contact information. It can cost a lot more in the long run. Human contact can soothe the savage beast with the awesome power of the words, “I’m sorry.”

For the final step, be sure to deliver on your promises. If you do not you will get:

“YOU SUCK. YOU LIE. Put that in your Google and smoke it”
(paraphrasing Jeff Jarvis)

Don’t Start Fights, But Do Finish Them

…words

The personal weblog of Stephen P Smith

Archive for July, 2008