MackCollier.com

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Your Complete Guide to Responding to Angry Customers Online

angry customers

Previously we covered the three types of people that you will encounter leaving negative comments about your brand: Angry customers, passionate fans and trolls.  Check out that post for help on how to identify each and advice on how to respond to each.

Today, I wanted to do a deeper dive into how your brand should respond to a complaint you encounter from an angry customer.  An angry customer typically is complaining about one specific event.  They have usually tried to resolve the issue on their own by searching Google or trying to contact your customer service department online, etc.  They are reaching out to you now cause they feel they have no other options left.  So here’s what you need to know when responding to angry customers online:

Things to Remember When Responding to Angry Customers Online

1 – Have empathy for the angry customer.  They are frustrated and angry.  So understand their mindset when you encounter them.  Yes, they will likely be upset and might even act pissy toward you.  But that’s because they feel that your brand has let them down.  They’ve probably already tried to solve the problem themselves, and cannot.  We have all been there from time to time.  We buy a new product and we are trying to set up or install it and we are trying to follow the instructions and it’s not working.  We probably feel dumb and we definitely are mad at the brand that made us feel dumb!  So when you encounter an angry customer, you need to understand why they are angry and sympathize with their feelings.  Take them seriously and do what you can to help them as quickly as possible.

2 – Respond as quickly as possible. This is paramount.  The faster you address and resolve a customer complaint online, the chances of you converting that angry customer into a passionate fan goes up exponentially.  On the flipside, the longer you let the complaint sit there, the greater of the chance it will attract more complaints and then suddenly instead of dealing with one customer complaint, you are tasked with handling 5 of 10.  A small problem can quickly escalate into a social media firestorm if you wait too long to act. HubSpot reports that 39% of social media users expect a response to an issue raised within an hour. That only happens if your company is proactively monitoring online for customer complaints.

3 – Listen and emphasize with the person leaving the comment.  Go back and read what the customer has posted and do research to figure out what happened that led them to complaining directly to or about your brand.  For example, if you see a customer tweet about a negative experience with your brand, check their blog and see if they have also written about the incident there as well.  You want to try to figure out everything you can about the situation because you don’t want to jump to conclusions about what prompted the person to respond. Think of this as ‘social media triage’, you are trying to figure out what happened, and why it happened, so that you can better treat the problem moving forward.

4 –Thank the person for leaving the comment.  Even if the comment is negative, the customer has done you a favor by bringing the problem to your brand’s attention because now it can be addressed.  Many customers would just stop doing business with your brand and move to a competitor.  Plus this helps you reframe the exchange as being an opportunity for your brand, instead of being a burden.

5 –Show respect to the customer and do not lose your cool!  Even if you think the customer is completely wrong, keep in mind that you might the one who’s wrong!  So keep an open mind and don’t lose your temper when dealing with them.  Keep in mind that other people will be watching your exchange with this person.  If you lose your temper and smart off to them, it not only invites more complaints, it makes your brand look terrible.  But if you are helpful and courteous, that reflects well on both you personally and your brand!  Doing so can even encourage your fans to come to your brand’s defense!

6 – You are within your rights to politely correct any misinformation that the customer has left about you or your brand.   This can often happen and the chance that it will is magnified if you don’t respond and let additional comments come in.  Here’s an example of how this can get away from a brand (and how they saved the day by replying smartly).

7 – Make sure the customer(s) understand that you are going to address their complaints, and inform them of what the next steps are.  You want to communicate to everyone that you take this issue seriously, and that you have a plan to address it.  This also helps to extinguish the chances of further negative comments, which often come as a result of inactivity by the brand. Simply communicating to the customer that you’ve heard them, and now you are going to do something, will put the angry customer at ease. Of course, you still have to follow through with action that addresses the customer’s concerns.

8 – Give everyone a way to stay in touch with you, and invite further feedback.  You want to make sure the issue is handled to the satisfaction of everyone, and again, by asking for additional feedback you are communicating to everyone that you take this issue seriously.

By following these steps you are doing everything you can to address the customer’s concern and turn a potential negative situation into a positive for your brand.

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How One Fan Made Marketo’s Bad Day a Little Less So

So Marketo had a bad day yesterday. They forgot to renew their domain, causing the site to be down, and plenty of frustration and panic for their customers. Believe it or not, this happens.  A few years ago here I briefly lost the mackcollier.com domain for the same reason, I thought it was set to auto-renew, and it wasn’t.

As you can imagine, twitter had a field day with the news….

But the news could have been a lot worse for Marketo, if it wasn’t for one of its customers stepping in to help out:

Yep, Travis stepped in and helped out Marketo when he saw they were facing problems. Remember that your fans see your brand as being THEIR brand too. Fans have a sense of ownership over their favorite brands, and act in the brand’s best interests. Travis no doubt understood what a mess this would cause for both Marketo and its customers, and wanted to help a brand that he loved.

And to Marketo’s credit, they gave Travis his just recognition as their Superman…

There are many lessons here and plenty of ‘how the hell did they let this happen?’ questions to answer. But one positive that may come from this episode is if Marketo explores ways to better engage its passionate fans like Travis.

Every company has passionate fans like Travis, and unfortunately, any day could see your company facing a crisis like the one Marketo faced yesterday.  When that happens, you’ll want to have as many fans like Travis helping you out as possible.  The time to start creating, cultivating and engaging with those fans is today.

When did Noah build the Ark? Before the rains came. Over the coming days and weeks, Marketo will be doing a lot of self-auditing and examining how they handled this crisis and how to avoid similar ones in the future. If the brand is smart, they will devote some of their reflection to how they can embrace and empower all the fans they have like Travis in the future.

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Gini Dietrich Co-Hosts #Blogchat TONIGHT on Using Your Blog As a Communication Tool During a Crisis

Gini Pro Photo

Here’s the transcript from tonight’s #Blogchat with Gini!

I’m thrilled to welcome Gini Dietrich as #Blogchat co-host tonight for the first time!  I’ve been wanting to have Gini co-host #Blogchat for a couple of years now so I’m happy it is finally happening.

Gini will be talking to us about How to Use Your Blog As a Communiction Tool During a Crisis.  If you are a frequent reader of her Spin Sucks blog (and excellent book of the same name) you know that Gini is an expert at social media crisis management.

Here’s what we’ll be discussing:

From 8:00-8:20 Central – “What information should a company have on its blog to prep for a social media crisis?”

8:20-8:40 Central – “If there’s a situation that customers are concerned about, what’s the correct way for the company to address it on its blog?”

8:40-9:00 Central – “Should a company use other social media sites during a crisis to communicate with customers, or just their blog?”

 

So make sure you are following Gini on Twitter, and follow the #Blogchat hashtag at 8pm Central (remember to turn your clocks back an hour for Daylight Savings Time!).

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Your Brand’s Legal (and Practical) Options for Addressing Negative Comments

7468312536_638cf71b6d_zSooner or later, your brand will receive a negative comment or bad review. Some posts will come from actual customers, others from competitors hoping to poach your customers.

Still others will come from trolls: people who have never bought from you, will never buy from you, and seemingly have nothing better to do than make your brand manager’s life difficult.

Regardless of who made the post, your reaction is likely to be the same: a deep longing for the post to disappear. But it won’t.

Here are your options for addressing damaging comments online, from least feasible (a lawsuit) to least palatable (taking the high road).

When can you sue?
People and brands alike must suffer a certain number of “slings and arrows.” Just because someone thinks your service is slow or your fries are soggy doesn’t give rise to a legal cause of action.

Once the comments move from obnoxious to defamatory, however, suing might become an option. Laws vary from state to state, but in most jurisdictions, defamation requires a false statement of fact (as opposed to an opinion), publication (communication of the false statement to at least one other person), negligence (if the defamatory matter is of public concern), and damage to the brand’s reputation.

Think “this finance company steals money from client accounts” as opposed to “this finance company sucks.”

You could issue a cease and desist letter to the person who posted the comments, but be aware that many such letters wind up featured on the person’s blog, or on third-party sites like Techdirt.

Ultimately, if the false statements really are damaging to your brand, you might have to bring suit, but you’ll want to carefully consider the implications before you do.

In the United States, the plaintiff must prove that the statements were false (as opposed to the burden being on the defendant to prove that they were true). In some jurisdictions, companies must meet the same standards as a public figure or celebrity in order to recover damages, and show that the person making the statement did so with “actual malice,” knowing it was false or exhibiting a “reckless disregard” for the truth.

In addition to the costs inherent in litigation, you could easily find your company cast as the bully in a David vs. Goliath type conflict, as we saw in the case of a Missouri bar owner who received a cease and desist letter from Starbucks.

Instead of suing, what should you do?
Respond. More than 1/3 of people who mention a brand on a social network expect a reply in 30 minutes or less (like a pizza delivery)!

As quickly as possible, post a reply to the comment on the same site where it was made. If the comments are in a Facebook post, reply on Facebook. If it was a Yelp review, reply on Yelp.

If the comments are on someone’s blog, contact the publisher directly, or post a comment on that site, but keep a screen shot in case they delete it.

Bear in mind that some people who post negative comments about your brand have a legitimate grievance. You will provide a better response if you write your reply with his in mind.

Brands do have some options when it comes to addressing defamatory statements. If the comments are posted to a third-party site like Yelp, you can contact the site to request that they be removed.

Be prepared to explain precisely how the comments posted violate the site’s terms of service. To report a defamatory review on Yelp, for instance, you’d select “Questionable Content” or “Legal Inquiries” from the drop-down menu provided and report the objectionable post as violating Yelp’s terms of service, section 6(a)(I) on content guidelines.

Be sure to give specifics about what the commenter said, and emphasize that it is both false and damaging.

Google has a form users can complete to request that information be removed. Facebook and Twitter provide options for reporting abusive posts, pages, accounts, etc. If the damaging review is posted on a blog, you can request the hosting company to remove a defamatory post.

In most instances, the costs of bringing a lawsuit will outweigh the benefit, and might even bring more attention to the negative comments about your brand. When defending your brand against online comments, consult with an attorney in your jurisdiction.

Ultimately, the best protection against negative comments is a healthy dose of goodwill. Invest time now—before a crisis hits—cultivating a closer relationship with fans of your brand, so they can be your first line of defense if the trolls attack.

Connect with your fans now, before you need them to rally to your brand’s defense: you’ll be glad you did!

Pic via Flickr user DonkeyHotey

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This is Exactly Why Brands Hate Social Media

PaceTweetSo over the Thanksgiving weekend there were two big ‘stories’ being covered by all the ‘entertainment’ blogs and bouncing around Twitter.  The first was where a guy got on a plane and claimed to have gotten in a ‘feud’ with another passenger.  He detailed how she was mean and inconsiderate, then proceeded to bully her with a series of notes that he took pictures of and said he sent her.  Then later it was ‘revealed’ that the woman actually had cancer, and that the guy had made her miss her connecting flight, and Thanksgiving dinner, which might very well be her last.

Then later it was also ‘revealed’ that the guy made the whole story up.  Still with me?

A day or two later, a supposed comedian got into a Twitter ‘war’ with what we were led to believe was Pace Picante’s Twitter account.  This led to a series of embarrassing DMs from the brand, a few employees getting ‘fired’, then the brand shutting down its Twitter account.

Then the revelation that no, wait, it wasn’t Pace Picante at all, it was another unknown comedian that was ‘pranking’ the first one.

We all must have been bored as shit last weekend.

Unfortunately, the popularity of Twitter has led to some people simply creating drama to draw attention to themselves (and by extension, get them bunches of followers).  Double-unfortunately, these antics are always prime to get coverage on hundreds of blogs that are desperate to hit their 10-a-day quota for new posts.

Now we’re upping the game with complete hoaxes.  Or hoaxes within hoaxes, as we saw when one guy’s hoax about an inconsiderate passenger took an unexpected turn when she ‘got’ cancer.  Which led to the guy mocking the people that followed him on Twitter for basically believing she had cancer without checking.

Elan tweetThese stunts are exactly why brands are scared to death of using social media.  Thanks to a couple of guys trying to make a name for themselves, there are now literally thousands of blog posts and articles out there claiming that Pace Picante is totally clueless when it comes to Twitter.  When the reality (apparently) is that they had nothing to do with this.  Will all these bloggers that wrote a quick 200-word post on how ‘clueless’ Pace was, update their posts and clarify that it was all a hoax?  A few will, but most won’t.

But the damage is pretty much done for Pace-Picante.  We always talk about how brands need to be ‘more human’.  Sometimes we ‘humans’ do too.

 

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Your Field Guide to What it Means When Someone Complains About Your Brand Online

J0202218It can be a scary (online) world out there, y’all.

For brands, this online world is particularly scary because they are very visible targets.  There’s no shortage of complaints and negative comments being hurled at them.  What’s worse, if they ignore the comments, they tend to multiply.  What’s even worse, most brands aren’t sure how to respond.  It can easily become a no-win situation.

So if we accept that your brand can’t ignore negative comments and complaints online, then we need to figure out how you will respond to them.  But before you can respond appropriately, you need to properly assess who you are responding to!

The Three Types of People That Will Complain About Your Brand

When you encounter a negative comment about your brand online, you need to understand who it is coming from, because that impacts how you will respond.  Negative brand comments come from one of three sources: Angry customers, passionate fans or trolls.  Here’s how to recognize each.

1 – Angry customers.  This is the most comment source of complaints you will see online.  Typically the complaint will deal with a very specific issue that this customer is having, and nothing else.  The complaint may include some larger statements about how this issue reflects poorly on your brand, but these are typically included to stress to the brand the need to pay attention to the person and fix their problem.  

Example complaint from an Angry Customer: “I just bought your writing software program and I can’t get it installed on my PC, and I can’t get anyone to help me!  I followed the instructions I found online (no manual included, why did I have to go online for instructions?) and it still won’t start.  I called your 1-800 customer service line and it said there was a 2 hour wait!  I just left a tweet to @SoftwareCustomerService on Twitter but so far no response!  Look I just want to get this product working, but I can’t get anyone at your company to help me!  Can you please call me at 1-800-frustrated customer or email me at [email protected]?”

Note the complaint is only about their specific issue and how they want a resolution.  That’s it.  Note also that this customer is only contacting you because he tried to get the help he needed by himself, and couldn’t.

2 – Passionate fans.  This one is difficult for the untrained eye to spot.  The difference between a complain coming from a fan is that since the fan views themselves as owners of your brand, they feel an obligation to bring the issue to your attention.  But the fan will also communicate to you how you should resolve the issue, or they will offer to help you resolve the issue.  This is the easiest way to differentiate a complaint from a passionate fan vs a complaint from an angry customer.  The angry customer simply wants you to resolve THEIR issue, then they could care less if you fix the larger problem with your brand.  Whereas a passionate fan will focus less on a specific issue and more on how this is a larger problem for your brand, that needs to be corrected.  The fan will typically offer advice and suggestions for fixing the problem or making it better.  And they will frequently volunteer to work with you to help implement their suggestions.  Again, fans view themselves as owners of your brand, so they feel they have ‘skin in the game’ and will act in what they perceive to be the brand’s best interests.

Example complaint from a Passionate Fan: “Hey there! I’m a frequent customer at your restaurant on 201 Church Ave and typically love the service I get there when I come in for lunch.  However, over the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed that lunchtime service seems to be getting slower and slower, and the line of customers waiting to have their orders taken seems to get longer each time I go there for lunch.  I do notice that there seems to be several new members working there, so perhaps it’s just a matter of them needing to get up to speed.  But I have to say, I’m starting to notice that customers are leaving due to the long lines and going elsewhere for lunch, I hate to see you lose business due to slow service!”

Here, the person is careful to identify herself as someone that frequents this location, and that she is typically happy with the service there.  Also, she is careful to point out how the long lines are having an impact on the brand, by driving customers away to a competitor.  The tone isn’t angry, instead its sympathetic, she’s hoping that your brand will correct these issues, because she is a fan.

3 – Trolls.  Trolls typically attack the brand in vague terms rather than specific issues or events.  Rather than complaining about a specific issue with your brand, they might try to attack your brand based on your brand supporting certain charities or causes or political candidates.  Or they might complain about your products or service in general, and not focus on specific interactions they have had with your brand.  ‘You suck’ is their catch-phrase.  A troll simply wants attention and engagement, whereas angry customers or fans want a resolution.  Trolls just want you to keep engaging them, and they will typically try to piss you off in order to make that happen.

Example complaint from a Troll: “Is your brand still trying to act like it cares about the environment?  You can launch all the ‘go green’ initiatives you want, but we both know it’s purely propaganda, your brand doesn’t care about the environment, you are only piggybacking on a popular marketing trend for your own benefit!”

Note the attack is very vague and the claims are difficult/impossible to substantiate.  Again, the idea is to spark a response, ideally an angry response, at which point the troll would likely claim that they were being attacked by your brand.  Remember the saying ‘Don’t feed the troll’.

Tomorrow I’ll go more in-depth into how to respond to negative comments online.  But in short, here’s a quick cheat-sheet for responding to complaints online, based on the person making the complaint:

Angry customer – Resolve their specific issue as soon as possible.  Try to move the exchange offline so you can get specific information from them.  Also communicate to the appropriate teams internally where the customer encountered breakdowns in the customer service chain that resulted in their complaint.  Make sure you followup with the customer and ensure that their issue is resolved to their satisfaction.  Handling a complaint from an angry customer effectively is the quickest way to convert a detractor into a fan of your brand.

Passionate fan – Communicate to the fan that you are taking their feedback seriously, and will forward their recommendations to the proper people within your brand.  Ask the fan if they would be interested in giving you more feedback related to your brand.  A true fan will jump at this chance and it’s an opportunity to build an ongoing relationship with your fan.

Troll – In general, it’s best to ignore trolls.  If they are trolling on your site/blog, you are typically within your bounds to delete their comment, especially if it is a vague attack.  If they are leaving comments on another site, it’s still best to ignore them, but if they continually harass your brand you should contact the site administrator and ask them to look into the troll’s actions.

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The Common Sense Guide For Brands That Want to Show Support Without Looking Like Asshats

One of the themes last week at #SoMeT13US was how do you create social media content that communicates that your brand supports people involved in a tragedy or situation, without giving them impression that you are simply trying to leverage the situation to promote yourself?

First, you don’t do this:

RandiTweetHere, Randi has taken a holiday that’s important to so many of us, Veteran’s Day, and she’s attempted to leverage the feelings we have for Veteran’s Day to support her book.  This isn’t the first time Randi has gotten into hot-water over an ill-advised tweet.  This tweet doesn’t honor Veteran’s Day or veterans at all, it’s a thinly-veiled promotion for her book, which many people quickly picked up on, which is why she’s caught flack over it.

Now check out how Three Dog Bakery mentioned Veteran’s Day on Facebook yesterday:

ThreeDogBakeryFB

See the difference?  The focus is on veterans, not the brand.  But notice that by including dogs in the update, Three Dogs Bakery was able to make the update somewhat relevant to its brand without making it about the brand!  That’s the difference between these two updates.  Randi’s update was about Randi.  That’s why it honked people off.  Three Dogs Bakery’s update was about honoring all veterans, ‘both two and four-legged’.  So the update was about Veteran’s Day and related to the brand.  Since it didn’t directly promote the brand, it didn’t upset people the way Randi’s tweet did.

It’s always risky to use social media to comment as a brand on an event or situation that many people have strong feelings about.  Still, many brands do want to communicate to their customers that they sympathize with their feelings and that they care about the people being affected.

So if your brand feels compelled to use social media to comment on a new event or other situation that many of your customers have strong opinions about, there are three ways you can respond:

1 – Show your support and sympathy for those involved and impacted, without any mention or promotion of your brand.  Unless your brand is a natural part of the story, then it’s incredibly risky to insert them into your update in any shape, form or fashion.  If in the future there is, God-forbid, a tragedy that affects your customers, you want to communicate that your thoughts and support are with those affected, without giving any impression that you are trying to leverage feelings associated with this event to promote your brand.  Remember that emotions will likely be high at this time for your customers, so you don’t want to send them any message that could possibly be misunderstood.

2 – If you must involve your brand in the update, mention ideas and themes related to the brand, not about the brand.  This is exactly what Three Dog Bakery did.  They didn’t insert their brand in the update, they mentioned dogs.  Which are related to its brand.  This is very tricky to do correctly, so be careful.  If it doesn’t pass the ‘smell’ test with you, then don’t post it.  At #SoMeT13US I mentioned that you should have a ‘devil’s advocate’ that comes up with all the possible objections that people might have to your update.  That can help you figure out if the tone and content of the update is too self-promotional or not.  Again, if your audience smells even a whiff of self-promotion from your brand, it will quickly backfire.

3 – Use the event/holiday/situation as an excuse to promote your brand.  This is obviously what you want to avoid in almost every possible situation.  You’re just inviting backlash and anger from the very people you want to connect with.

Before you publish that update ask yourself this simple question:  Where are we putting the spotlight?  If you are putting the spotlight on your brand, then start over.

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Putting Out a Social Media Firestorm BEFORE it Starts!

Note: A version of this post appeared in this week’s Think Like a Rock Star newsletter.  If you would like to subscribe, click here.

Last week when I was in Nashville something interesting happened: I was primarily in town to talk about Think Like a Rock Star with the Nashville chapter of the AMA at their monthly luncheon.  But earlier that morning, I briefly spoke to a group of about a dozen CMOs.

It was interesting to hear the feedback from both groups.  After the lunchtime presentation, some people wanted to talk about how to find and connect with their fans, many people loved the case studies, some people wanted to talk about creating more engaging content.  In other words, there were plenty of themes that resonated with the audience, and areas that they felt they needed help with.

But the group of CMOs were focused on one key area:  They wanted help in dealing with customers that were using social media tools to say negative things about them or even attack their brands online.

I *love* this topic because I believe it’s so misunderstood by many companies.  The first thing to realize is that the vast majority of the time when a customer says something negative about your brand, it’s not because she wants to cause your brand harm, it’s because she wants your brand to respond to her!  That’s it.  She’s tried calling your customer support line and she was put on hold for 15 mins, then hung up on.  She emailed your support department yesterday, and has never heard back.  She’s tried the ‘normal’ channels to get your brand to help her, and she’s gotten no response.  So she does the only thing she knows to do next: She’s turned to social media to bitch about you, hoping that it will get your attention!

That’s typically how it goes.  Granted, sometimes people DO want to start trouble for your brand, and sometimes customers DO attack your brand just to see what you will give them to shut them up, but these instances are the exception.

So how can you plan TODAY to better deal with a customer ‘attack’ that might be coming tomorrow?

First, you need this:

GuardDogStart connecting with your fans.  You want your fans to be more engaged with you, you want them participating and interacting with you on your social media sites.  There are countless reasons why this benefits your brand, but for the purposes of this topic it’s this:  Your fans are the ‘guard dog’.  If I am a person that TRULY wants to come to your Facebook page and cause a stink, seeing that you have several fans that LOVE your brand commenting and engaging there, scares me off.  Why?  Because your fans will come to your defense if someone shows up trying to start trouble.  So if I am there to pick a fight with your brand, I don’t want to fight with your fans.  So if your fans are ‘guarding the yard’, I will move on.  Think of your fans as your ‘Social Media Home Security System’.

Second, you need to create a plan for dealing with customer complaints.  The starting point is to assess why the person is complaining.  This helps you determine if the person is truly a disgruntled customer that needs your help, or a troll that’s just there to kick sand all over the place.  The disgruntled customer will typically talk about their experience, what went wrong, how they tried previously to resolve the issue, and could not, etc.  The troll will typically talk about your brand in more general terms, accuse you of not supporting Belief A or Agenda X, of creating a product that destroys the environment in Area B of the world, etc.  BTW the disgruntled customer should not be confused with ‘I want a freebie’, as these are trolls in disguise that think if they complain about you that you will offer them a freebie to shut them up.

The idea is, you want to give the actual customers the service they need and deserve, and not waste time on the trolls.  And again, the odds are you will rarely, if ever encounter a troll.  Especially if you have engaged with your fans and they are actively ‘in your yard’.

So if you currently need help dealing with angry customers ‘in your social media yard’, then I have three options to help you:

1 – Subscribe to the Think Like a Rock Star newsletter for free.  It’s a weekly newsletter and one of the most common topics we tackle is dealing with negative comments from customers online.  Click here to subscribe.

2 – Read Chapter Six of Think Like a Rock Star (click here to order it on Amazon).  The entire chapter is devoted to properly handling negative comments with multiple case studies from brands that did a great job of handling customer complaints, and a few that did not.  It walks you through the exact steps you should take to respond to unsatisfied customers in order to convert them into passionate fans.   The book costs $15 currently on Amazon, and this chapter alone is well worth that price.

3 – Hire me to help you deal with upset customers online.  I can work with you to craft a plan and strategy for handling future negative feedback you encounter from customers, as well as help you tackle current issues you might be facing.  I can also be available ‘on call’ to help you handle future issues that pop up that require your attention quickly.  Email me to discuss your exact needs and the help I can provide you.

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How Maker’s Mark Avoided a Social Media Firestorm By Listening to Their Customers

Maker's MarkAlthough I am not a drinker and haven’t consumed a drop of bourbon in my life, I am a big fan of how Maker’s Mark strives to have a close relationship with its customers.  In fact I did an extensive case study on the company’s excellent brand ambassador program for Think Like a Rock Star.

Recently the brand got into some hot water with its customers when it announced that it was diluting its product from 45% alcohol by volume, to 42%.  Obviously, this is not a decision that customers of a brand that makes whisky would be excited about, and Maker’s Mark’s customers quickly took to social media and email to voice their displeasure over the move.

And not surprisingly, Maker’s Mark quickly reversed course, and announced on its Facebook page that their customers were right:

While we thought we were doing what’s right, this is your brand – and you told us in large numbers to change our decision.

You spoke. We listened. And we’re sincerely sorry we let you down.

Notice how Maker’s Mark not only apologized to their customers, but acknowledged that ‘this is your brand’.  If you were a customer that was upset about Maker’s Mark’s decision, how can you stay mad at the brand after reading this?

There’s two very important business lessons here:

1 – Remember that Maker’s Mark has a robust brand ambassador program in place.  It’s one of the largest in the world, and numbers over a hundred thousand.  This gives Maker’s Mark a direct feedback channel to its most passionate customers.  Sure, it’s one thing when ‘drive-by’ customers are slamming you on Facebook, but it’s quite another when people that have been members of your ambassador program for a decade or more, suddenly tell you that your latest move will cause them to stop giving you their business.  THAT’S when you know it’s serious.  Maker’s Mark got feedback on this move almost immediately from its most passionate supporters, and that helped the brand make an informed decision.

2 – Whether or not a social media firestorm happens is always dictated by how the brand responds to its customers.  It’s never the company’s initial action that creates the firestorm, that’s just the spark, then you have upset customers voicing their concern to the brand.  THEN it depends on how the brand responds.  If Maker’s Mark had ignored their customers, or worse yet, told them they were wrong, then the flames would have been fanned, and the anger would have gotten worse.  But Maker’s Mark didn’t do that, they listened to their customers and admitted that their customers were right.  The potential firestorm was diffused because the brand listened to its customers.

Remember, it’s never the company’s initial action that determines if there will be a social media firestorm, it’s how the brand responds to its customers.  Maker’s Mark just gave us a textbook example of how to properly respond to angry customers.  HT to Jackie for this story.

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Social Media Marketing Newsletter

Starting next Wednesday, I’ll be running a weekly newsletter in addition to (almost) daily posts here.  The content focus will be slightly different, however.

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