You Have 4 Days to Save Your Brand
Posted June 7th, 2007 by Kevin
Jackie Huba, author of Citizen Marketers and The Church of the Customer Blog recently posted on the recent education CompUSA received regarding the power of social media. It took a mere four days for one customer’s complaint to gain national attention on Foxnews.com. Four days!
Considering that several other situations like this have occurred with well known brands, it’s hard to fathom that a CEO would respond to a customer with essentially a “tough noogies,” but that is exactly what occurred here. Huba’s post is a hard lesson for many business leaders who feel that social media and customer evangelism issues can be tackled on an as needed basis. All too often, organizations find themselves behind the 8 ball when the fire storm of customer service issues spreads. Instead of being able to have a conversation, they are forced to run damage control.
Could this issue have been avoided? Absolutely! Organizations need to realize that any type of communication they have with customers today, whether it is on the phone, in person or in writing will find its way beyond that one customer and into the hands of multiple customers. Although the conversation appears one-to-one, business leaders need to begin seeing those conversations more like this 1-to-1-to-3,000.
The CompUSA issue is the perfect example of why it is important to enlist the assistance of people who understand the social media space and the industry. Although everyone may love your brand now, one person mistreated can cause a world of trouble in just four days. Take the initiative and start the conversation with your customers before they feel compelled to tarnish your reputation and forever leave a negative footprint online.
