Brad Shorr from Word Sell, Inc shares six reasons why business blogs should welcome negative comments.
All are really good reasons, but here’s one that I want to point out specially.
Fifth, negative comments in and of themselves are unlikely in and of themselves to drive business away. Other readers are more interested in your response to a negative comment than the comment itself. For example, the comment “How come your sales rep never calls on me?!$*” by itself doesn’t look good. However, if you respond with, “We are extremely sorry about that. It is never our intention to ignore any customer. You will be hearing from your rep this afternoon, and we hope it’s not too late to rebuild our relationship,” you may find yourself actually attracting new business and turning indifferent customers into evangelists. Of, you could choose not to blog, and risk having customer tell twenty of his friends how unresponsive you are.
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Bad comments are not just bad comments – they are opportunities for you to respond and build new relationships.
In today’s world, you can monitor and track whatever is said anywhere. And as such, I think that Brad’s point can be applied to anything that’s said about you, not just comments on your blog.
As long as people are talking about you, it can work in your favor. Even if it’s bad, it’s a chance for you to jump in and contribute to the conversation. It’s a chance for you to correct any mistakes – be it on the report’s end or on your end. It’s a chance for you to build new connections.
There’s no such thing as bad press, just opportunities to respond.
How do you respond to the negative things that are said about you?
Hi Derrick, Thanks for expanding on my post. They say the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. I really do think when customers shut down, you've almost certainly lost the business. On the flip side, when companies don't talk to customers, customers feel the apathy. That's why blogs are such a great opportunity to connect!
You're more than welcome, Brad. =).
Yeah, I've heard that line before, “the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference”. That's a great line that's really applicable in this context, so thanks for sharing it.
You're more than welcome, Brad. =).
Yeah, I've heard that line before, “the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference”. That's a great line that's really applicable in this context, so thanks for sharing it.