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They're Talking About You

Written by: Max Kalles

Article Overview: Word-of-mouth is prospering on the web. Now, instead of telling ten people about a bad experience, disgruntled customers, right or wrong, can tell the entire world. You need to have your say.

They're Talking About You

My neighbourhood is the site of a proposed residential development. The developer arranged an orientation meeting and I thought I would google their name to learn more about them and their work. The first link in the results was not to the developer’s web site. It was from a renter’s forum site, where renter’s exchange thoughts, ideas and experiences. The comment that had out-ranked the developer’s site on google was from a disgruntled tenant who was participating in an online conversation about landlords. Posted over a year ago, I took the renter’s comment for what it was; one person’s story, however, it still significantly affected my impression of the developer. But not for the reasons you might think.

The fact is that there is probably an online conversation taking place right now about your business. It might not be specifically about your company, but that does not mean it is not important to you.

People have always spoken to each about their experiences with companies; it’s simply word-of-mouth. A popular guideline, which might or might not be accurate, states that, if a customer has a pleasant experience, she will tell one person, if she has a bad experience, she will tell ten people. So people talking about your business is nothing new.

What is new is that, when the conversation moves online, the entire world can participate in it. Every customer and, more importantly, every potential customer can hear what is being said about you. If the conversation is good, it can become a windfall, if the conversation is bad, it can be devastating.

The problem is you can’t please all the people all the time. Regardless of how good you are, people will have bad things to say – and everyone can hear them.

What’s a company to do? The reason the renter’s comments significantly affected my opinion of the developer was not because the comments were negative. Just like your customers can participate in online conversations about your business, so can you. The developer had not bothered in over a year to address the comments. Indeed, the developer is likely unaware that the comments are there.

Here is a company that, for whatever reason – lack of knowledge, attitude, ignorance – has not taken part in a conversation that may be unfairly critical of their operations and has become the highest ranking reference to the company on google. And they want to build something in my neighbourhood?

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Article Tags: bad experience, entire world, online conversion



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