We live in the Age of the Empowered Consumer. Those companies that realize this will rise up. Those who fail to grasp this new reality will fall.
When I studied marketing in the early 1990s, a professor said that a disgruntled consumer shares a negative shopping experience with ten times as many people as a positive one. Today, angry customers can share their anger with the world.
Late at night in November 2001, two men arrived at a Doubletree Club Hotel in Houston, Texas, where they had made guaranteed reservations. They were upset to find that the rooms had been allocated a long time ago, and annoyed to find themselves faced with a receptionist who was decidedly unapologetic about the mix-up, unsympathetic to his plight, and unhelpful in making alternative arrangements.
To express their discontent, the two men used Microsoft’s PowerPoint software to prepare a humorous graphic complaint titled “Yours is a very bad hotel.” They sent the presentation to the hotel manager, two friends and one of his mother-in-laws. That was it. In the last PowerPoint screen, they encouraged recipients to spread the word.
Within a few months, the PowerPoint presentation was forwarded millions of times around the world and garnered prominent coverage in publications like The Wall Street Journal and Forbes. Imagine what this negative exposure cost Doubletree in terms of reputation and lost bookings.
In 2006, it’s even easier for people to express their frustration with a product or service that doesn’t meet their expectations. For reviews of almost any type of service provider, from insurance agents to clowns performing at birthday parties, check out Angie’s List (www.angieslist.com). It serves 124 metropolitan areas and in some areas it is free to use, while in other cities membership is $4.95 per month or $49 per year.
Angie’s List members have access to a database of opinions posted by other members, numbering 500,000 nationwide. Reviews follow a standard format that looks like a school report card. Contractors, for example, are rated on parameters that include workmanship, punctuality, and friendliness. And there’s a comment section where you can learn that while Bob is an excellent plumber, he’s color blind, so don’t let him give you advice on what to paint your bathroom.
Angie’s List is just one of many sites aimed at soliciting consumer reviews. Others with a national presence include the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org), Craig’s List (www.craigslist.com), City Search (www.citysearch.com), Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.com), and Epinions (www. epinions.com). Also, many cities have local websites that give consumers a place to let off steam.
An irate consumer may also blog about a negative experience with your company. According to Technorati (www.technorati.com), the largest blog search engine, there are now 70 million blogs and many contain posts about poor products and services.
Truly modified and tech-savvy consumers can easily build a website to communicate their discontent to the world. Some good examples of this can be found on the websites that file complaints against Walmart (www.walmart-blows.com), Home Depot (www.homedepotsucks.com), and PayPal (www.paypalsucks.com).
While it can be tempting to ignore customer complaints when you have concerns that seem most pressing, if you fail to calm the complainer down and prevent similar incidents from occurring, the next “Yours is a very bad business” message could give around the world
By taking good care of your customers, you’re not only doing the right thing, but you’re also ensuring that your business grows through positive word of mouth.