Negative Word of Mouth, Geometric Disaster or Double Benefit
Saturday, July 22nd, 2006 at 9:21 pm by Jeffrey Perren, AC Magazine
Word of mouth spreads more or less geometrically. Someone likes what you say or sell and they tell two people, who tell four, three of whom tell six, etc.
Notice, I didn’t say “four tell sixteen, etc” That’s because as the web of popularity spreads, not everyone is going to take the effort to spread the word. Worse, not everyone will be pleased with what you say or do.
Circumstances, misunderstanding, or a variety of other causes may have given some of those a reason to think you could use a little improvement. That can lead to negative word of mouth.
Just as positive buzz helps you by that amplification effect, negative word of mouth hurts you. And, unfortunately, people are often more vocal about what they don’t like, than enthusiastic about what they do.
There are several ways to deal with that inescapable fact, but one stands above the rest.
First and foremost, maintain open and honest communication. Try to avoid letting a customer complaint go by unanswered, especially if they’re being anywhere near reasonable. You won’t have time to address every possible expression of sour grapes, but any genuine beef should be jumped on at the earliest opportunity.
Those who already like you are valuable sources of future business. But, anyone who is annoyed for a legitimate reason counts double. First, you have an opportunity to squash the growth of negative word of mouth at the very beginning. Second, you have a chance to turn a loss into an asset.
Nothing creates allies like converting former detractors. Some of those will become your biggest boosters. That person will recognize that you cared enough about him or her as an individual to address his or her specific problem.
What’s one of your biggest beefs about the bank, the phone company or some other large business you contacted to resolve an issue? You wanted to be treated like a person. Instead, on that occasion, you got a customer service rep that was just following a rule book and treating you like an account number.
But another company you called dealt with you and your problem as if they genuinely cared about your specific, legitimate issue. Did you enthuse to your friends and get the company new business?
You don’t have to be Pollyanna to believe it’s a good idea to make that extra effort to resolve legitimate complaints. You just have to want that practical, positive double-whammy that comes from turning lemons into lemonade.
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