Word of Mouth – Another Reason It’s Crucial
July 10, 2009 by Becky Scott
Filed under Marketing
While every interaction with your customers can’t be perfect, you do want to make sure you take every opportunity to help your company shine. Each time your customer contacts you, remember to create a positive experience. It should all be a part of your marketing plan to constantly reinforce your relationships and your brand.
And of course you’re probably not going to be able to resolve every single thing to suit a disgruntled customer. It’s just not possible. But when you think about how you should handle a problem, think about how it will reflect on your company. Unhappy customers talk a lot more people than happy ones do. So you have to weigh things – is it important to be right, or to give a little to keep the relationship smooth?
Some customers will demand way more than you want to give. And that’s understandable. But when you’re a large company with the ability to take care of small things, isn’t it easier just to take care of things and move on?
Dave Carroll
For example, musician Dave Carroll from Sons of Maxwell has written a song and produced a video about his bad experiences with United Airlines. He claims that United’s baggage handlers broke his $3500 Taylor guitar by tossing it around carelessly. After months of trying to get the claim settled, Carroll didn’t get his situation resolved to his satisfaction. United said they would not pay for repairs to his guitar, according to Carroll’s web site.
So he promised to write a song to let people know what happened. And he did. Now, well over one million people have seen the video about United and its baggage handling. If what Carroll claims is true, and that United was at fault and refused to pay, then was it worth it to them to get such bad press?
With the popularity of YouTube, blogging, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and so many others, things can go viral quickly. If you have the means to fix a problem, shouldn’t you? I’m not referring to holding businesses hostage by threatening bad reviews or videos like this. But situations where you can make it right, and probably should.
Which would you prefer: save a few bucks, or watch word of mouth spread quickly?
Here’s the video, titled “United Breaks Guitars”, below:
Dave Carroll image courtesy of davecarrollmusic.com
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