Controlling Your Cynics

We’ve all received negative feedback at one point or another. The question is, how did you react? Did you give your power away by reciprocating, or worse: pretending it never happened. Well, it didn’t work on the playground, so why would it work in business?
Especially in light of social media’s influence over your brand.

Nobody expects you to be flawless, they do however want to relate, starting with a genuine response. You may not always agree, however you’ll demonstrate your confidence and (similar to standing up to a school yard bully,) fighting back using a little humanity and humility will earn you immediate respect. In fact, 33 percent of negative reviews turn positive when you provide any response at all.

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
– Bill Gates

Lucky for us, now we can engage in open dialogue with customers at a fraction of the cost of, say, putting together a massive customer focus group. And while you’re at it, remember to add some credits in the bank. Build those positive posts by providing a good experience at the start. recent study found that 88 percent of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. This will offset any future negative noise.

“All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from them.”
– Winston Churchill

(and even wiser men learn from others)

So lets take a peek at who’s got it figured it out. Starting with Dominos: After a viral video dramatically damaged their reputation, to many’s surprise, they widely published the negative feedback, and launched “Pizza Turnaround,” causing their stock to rise from $7.73 to more than $70. Not bad.

Another nice example is UPS: they put names and faces to their team on Facebook and Twitter, which is fitting for the delivery giant, considering their customers develop strong relationships with their local delivery person. They publish the rep’s ETA ‘response to post’ with a defined hourly schedule. This use of confidence, clarity and personalization leads to their 70.20% online response rate, and overall perceived positive customer experience.

Next time you face a modern day cynic, own it and hone it. And if you need to fix something, do it, then talk about it.