Should You Let Your Customers Say What They Really Think? Yes.
Posted on May 12, 2009 | Permalink
By Erin Graham
When it comes to social networking, you have to give customers the control. You are no longer the one making the decisions. Your job is to build communities of interest and provide content. You have to tie your website in with other digital devices in order to build your network and gain business. Only when you let the customers take control, will you be able to fully benefit. Marketing is not an irritation or aggravation if it relates to something the customer wants.
Letting the customer comment on your website is not something that can happen over night. First, you have to learn to let go. This may be hard to do but in the end you will be better off. People like to have a voice. Customers want to be informed and in turn want to inform others. Let them do this on your site. If they aren’t allowed to comment on your site, they will do it in a public square where you have lost every last chance to build communities and provide content specific to your brand.
Phase One – Take control of your website - Build your website, create a community of interest, provide content and maintain the interest. Don’t open your site up to anyone on the outside just yet. You hired experts, now get them to provide the professional content. Let your staff express their opinions and thoughts.
Phase Two – Give the control to your customers - Once you feel comfortable with the content you are providing, set up at least one place as a forum. Let customers and anyone who is interested talk about your products and your company. In the beginning, direct the conversation toward your strengths. Pick one product that you feel is strong and see where the conversation goes. Once you develop trust with your customers/prospects, you can open the site up to more sensitive topics.
Every organization will receive negative comments. You have to be prepared for them whether you are letting them on your site or you’re just reacting to what somebody blogs elsewhere. If someone writes something unrelated or obscene on your site then I would say delete it. If it’s a negative comment about a product on your site then you have to address it.
It’s very important that you listen to what your customers have to say. An example of how to listen to your customers and respond would be that of Mazda and their RX-8 Forum. Two Mazda dealers made a video webcast about customer complaints about the RX-8 sports car – squeaky brakes and engine flooding – were unfairly lowering customer-satisfaction scores. Mazda agreed that the RX-8 would be included in the survey, but that the scores for the RX-8 would no longer count in the results.
A Mazda customer found this video and posted it on an RX-8 enthusiast web site. The video spread like wildfire and RX-8 owners took the comments as evidence that Mazda and the dealers were unwilling to make repairs to their cars in a swift and thorough manner. Jeremy Barnes, Mazda Spokesperson, quickly responded to the forum: “Mazda’s goal is to ensure that our dealers provide all customers, regardless of the vehicle they own, with the highest level of service and customer satisfaction. To assume, after viewing a video posted on the Internet, that Mazda would do anything to compromise this is simply and unequivocally wrong.” Shortly after the webcast circulated, J.D. Power and Associates issued customer satisfaction scores showing that the RX-8 was Mazda’s highest-scoring model. In order to ensure the best customer service and increase Mazda’s brand loyalty, Mazda realized that they needed to pay attention to what RX-8 enthusiast had to say.
In the end, Mazda extended the RX-8 engine warranty to 8 years or 100,000 miles. Mazda also gave the forum an early copy of the press release and invited questions from the club members. Mazda realized that listening to their RX-8 fans and responding to their comments created a better relationship with their customers. This in turn increased brand loyalty and their return on investment.