Beyond the individual profiles of your customers, negative feedback can come in any number of forms, including e-mail, blog posts, and comments on blogs. Each of these shows a varying degree of commitment to expressing a given customer’s concern over his or her experience.

• E-mail For non-bloggers who haven’t read a blog post that set them off, e-mail is the method of choice for communication, specifically if a phone call hasn’t worked in the past. E-mail is fantastic at one thing in particular: it allows you to respond directly to customer inquiries.

• Blog comment A blog comment typically means that someone has read a post and been reminded of his or her own negative experience. If it’s recent, it may be passionate, or it may simply be a “oh, yeah, something like this happened to me, too!”

• Blog post A post on a blog shows that, as with e-mail, the customer was upset enough to set aside time to write down the experience, and this person does, in fact, want to hear from you. A blog post is an open invitation for response from anyone, including the business that created or allowed the negative experience. Each of these methods of feedback poses unique challenges. E-mail is difficult largely because it’s a text-based medium as well as because company representatives typically get so much e-mail that a single one is easy to dismiss or forget about. Blog comments are difficult because they don’t publicly provide you with an individual’s contact information, while blog posts are difficult because they are happening in a public space (although nothing says you can’t e-mail the blogger to sort through the details). This means that it can require some research to find information about the blogger, and sometimes it means that directly contacting the individual isn’t possible.

HAVING THE RIGHT MINDSET

At the beginning of this article, we looked at how to develop a blogging mindset, which focused on developing respect for customers, valuing the conversation that happens in the blogosphere, wanting to contribute, and being meaningful in how you do so. This is an important mindset for success in the blogosphere. Similarly, mindset is an important ingredient for success in dealing with negative comments. This mindset focuses on respect, but also on valuing the feedback for its potential for change both in your company and in the customer, valuing fast and effective responses to that feedback, and understanding that the customer has made a sacrifice of time in merely responding to you. Unless you are the only business in town that sells your particular type of product or service, customers have a choice and can do business elsewhere. Unless you can create positive experiences, fix negative ones, and always treat your customers respectfully, you might find them voting for their favorite business with their feet.

AGAIN, RESPECT

I’ve talked about respect a great deal in this article respecting your company enough to consider adding value to it by listening to customers, respecting customers enough to value them and their contributions, respecting blogging enough to listen at least but hopefully to blog yourself, and now respecting negative feedback. For most people, negative feedback is a personal affront to the quality of their work, their ability to produce results, and even their ethics. However, for customers, negative feedback is simply a reflection of the fact that they do not believe they have been treated fairly. Our mothers may have told us that life isn’t fair, but that doesn’t mean people don’t measure your business based on how fair it is: prices must be fair, issues must be handled fairly, wait times must be appropriate, quality of products must be of a level equal to the price, and a fair amount of parking must be available at your store.

Unfair treatment really offends people your prices are 20 percent higher that those of others and the quality is the same, a customer feels mistreated by a rude associate, or the hotel room doesn’t have enough towels and requests for more go unmet. People expect fair treatment, and they react quite strongly when it doesn’t happen. As a result, you’ll notice that most of the negative e-mail, blog comments, or blog posts you see during your searches of blogs will have a general undertone of the individual being personally offended that a situation has occurred. As a result, your ability to assuage their concerns, admit where your business failed them, and be conciliatory is paramount in turning the negative experience into a positive one. The more respect you have for your customer, his or her situation, and the mistakes your business may have made to allow the situation to happen, the greater your chances for stopping the slide into negativity and possibly even turning it around.

FAST RESPONSES

In the traditional world of customer service, a 24-hour response is considered optimal. That premise assumes, though, that customers aren’t expecting a faster response. Now that you’ve learned to value conversations as dynamic and fluid relationship-builders and positive experience-makers, it should be obvious that while a 24-hour response is better than a 48-hour one, or a seven-day one, the timeframe isn’t very conversational. True conversational e-mail responses means a response time of under an hour. For most businesses, that’s difficult to achieve. I once owned a service-based company, and one of our promises was that we’d respond in under an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That was difficult. But nothing builds loyalty, positive experiences, and relationships like conversational styles. Our company suffered a massive hardware failure, so much so that we couldn’t provide services for nearly two weeks, and in spite of that, less than 1 percent of our customers left us for another service.

Fast, effective, and personal responses rooted in conversation build the kind of loyalty that most businesses can’t even imagine. That said, if 24-hour responses are the best you can do, then excel at those 24-hour responses. However, if you have the resources, passion, and people necessary to respond more quickly, the returns are exponentially higher the closer you get to a true conversation with your customers. In the blog world, fast and

conversational are even more important, as people are used to fast communications. A blog entry is posted, and typically responses to that post appear in minutes; the author of the post then responds again in minutes, and a conversation ensues. If you aren’t part of that conversation, or if you’re absent for most of it, you simply aren’t making the type of impact you could make if you were participating. Posting only one response a day is about as effective as trying to participate in a conversation at a party by writing down your responses on a piece of paper and passing it around. It’s disjointed and ineffective. The best way to participate in an active conversation is to be actively listening. This takes time. But it also creates relationships, value, and positive experiences that simply aren’t possible if you respond only once a day.

Tom Peters, a respected management consultant, writes a blog (www.tompeters.com ), that often experiences 20 to 50 comments at a time, eagerly discussing the principles he’s blogging about, sharing wisdom, and learning from each other. This is the type of conversation that brings great success to a blogger and his or her company.

EFFECTIVE RESPONSES

Several factors are involved in formulating an effective response, whether it’s in an e-mail or a blog posting. Most of these focus on fixing the problem and making customers happy. Everything you write in your responses has to be from one of these two perspectives anything else is not only ineffective, it’s just as likely to be filed under the “cover your backside” category as “just doing your job,” neither of which is helping your customers. An effective response has three main parts:

• Acknowledge the issue Even if you aren’t prepared to admit any wrongdoing, at least admit that the customer had a hard time. It’s better, however, to admit to wrongdoing, because a customer already knows he or she has been treated badly, and admitting it will make the customer feel a lot better. Sidestepping won’t do that, and it may even make the customer more upset.

• Provide a fix Whatever can be done to fix the problem should be covered. At this point, it may be too early to offer a solution, as you may not have all the context you need to do so. At the very least, offer a way for the person to get in contact with you (if you aren’t already in a one-to-one conversation, such as when you’re commenting on a blog post).

• Follow-up Good follow-up puts the shine on a great solution, because it shows that you care. Everyone feels special with a follow-up, largely because a business doesn’t have to followup, so you know that the businessperson has taken time out of his or her busy day to make sure that the situation is still okay. All of that said, many businesses do a few things wrong, even the smart ones. Once again, if any part of your response is not designed to fix the problem or make the customer happy, you need to evaluate exactly why it’s there. Here are some examples of how to ensure successful responses:

• Empower anyone who talks directly to customers to solve problems. Customers shouldn’t need to talk to multiple people to get one problem fixed.

• Don’t send form letters or responses. Form letters do save time, but they don’t actually do anything for the customer. Every response you generate needs to provide value to the customer; otherwise, you’re not helping the customer or your business.

• Put real people on the phone to talk with customers. There is nothing like a real person answering the phone on the first ring, especially if that person is able to solve a customer’s problem. This creates a massive positive experience.

VALUING YOUR CUSTOMER

No matter what form of communications occurs with your blogbased customers, you need to value the conversation you’re having with them and with the blogosphere, and you need to value each customer as a person. It’s far too easy to think of people as numbers, potential sales, and recurring customers. Truth is, customers are simply human. Customers like to hear “I’m sorry,” “Thank you,” “I’ll do my best to get this fixed for you,” and “Does this help at all?” They don’t like to hear “Sorry, but that’s our policy,” “There’s nothing TEXT IS AN AWFUL MEDIUM One of the greatest challenges with responding to e-mails from blog readers, responding to bloggers, and responding to comments on blogs is that all of these methods of communication are text based. So much of real communication comes from

someone based purely on cultural things, such as where a comma is placed, usage of certain words, or sentence structure.

During my more than 10 years on the Internet, I’ve gotten into numerous disputes in e-mail, blog comments, and forums purely because I assumed the writer meant one thing, when really they meant something else entirely. Text is an awful method for communication in the modern world. So when you get a message, make sure you aren’t looking for the worst interpretation look for the best one instead. Not only will it make your response more pleasant, but that pleasantness will likely make the person on the other end feel more valued. further I can do,” and “You’ll need to talk to customer service about that.”

Whether you run your business or you simply help make it work, whether your company is a Fortune 500 or your own little corner of heaven, you always have a choice about how you treat customers. You can create a negative experience or a positive experience, and whether you help a customer to become a saboteur or an evangelist, or something in between, is up to you. Remember that sometimes you’re a customer, too, and you need to treat customers with the same value and respect you expect when issues come up with the companies you deal with, as they so often do.

REVIEWING NEGATIVE COMMENTS

You’re starting on a new trend, you’re opening up a new gateway to communication, and you’re starting to engage directly with your customers. You will at some point receive negative comments. Be prepared for this reaction. If you aren’t evoking both negative and positive responses, you’re being mediocre, and mediocre doesn’t cut it.

STANDING UP FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS

As Joe Flood illustrates in the short story that appears in this article, if you’re talking about your customers or clients, you may well get flack on your blog about them, which can be an uncomfortable place to be in.

Responding to negative comments about someone else’s company requires a tactic different from that used to respond to comments about yours primarily because you can’t actually fix the situation or make the customer happy. All you can do is acknowledge the comment, stand up for your customer (or not, depending on the situation), and be honest. This is a communications issue: You need to pass on the feedback to your customer, perhaps even encourage him or her to blog and maybe even post a response. If the charge is serious, and true, it may cause you to re-evaluate your business relationship. In that case, consider blogging that information as well not as a warning to future customers, but as a message to your readers and your customers that you care about how they are treated.

At the end of the day, responding to claims against a client or customer’s company boils down to communication, discretion, and doing your best to stand by your values. You also need to value not only your relationships with your customers but also your partners. Don’t dump partners and customers every time something bad is said about them. Use wisdom and respect to create positive experiences all around. THE PROCESS A distinct, and successful, process is necessary for responding to negative feedback whether it’s in a blog-related e-mail, on a blog post, or in a blog comment. Here’s the seven-step lowdown:

1. Find the value. First and foremost, you need to find the value in a negative comment. If a comment says “Your product is junk!” finding value may be incredibly difficult, if downright impossible. However, most comments will be grounded in some form of truth or experience that you can fix, and you should be able to counter with something that makes the customer happy. Look for the value in the comment, even if it’s buried deep.

2. Find the problem. Having found the value of the comment, determine exactly what is the problem. Is it a temporary lapse in process? Poor service? Was the customer mistreated or abused? Determining the actual problem and the cause of that problem is necessary before you can begin to solve it, fix the issue, and make the customer happy.

3. Find the person. When responding to issues, it’s too easy to forget that real people are involved both the customer who had the negative experience and possibly even the people internally at your company who may have had a hand in it. Remembering that people caused the issue, and people suffered, will make your response more real, human, and caring.

4. Find the solution. Whether the problem was a lapse in product quality that has already been fixed or an internal process that will take weeks or months to fix, the solution to the overall problem and to the customer’s specific issue needs to be discovered and addressed.

5. Fix the problem. Where possible, implement the fix to your internal processes or training, or whatever caused the issue. Where a fix isn’t possible, acknowledge that you’re working on it. For the customer, fix whatever happened. If it’s a deficient product, replace it. If poor employee training or a lapse in process was the cause, apologize and make it right.

6. Make the person happy. Once again, real people here. Be empathetic, and, when it comes time to respond, do so in a way that makes the person believe that you’ve not only fixed the problem, but that you care.

7. Respond. Now respond to the comment, keeping all of these steps in mind. I won’t give you some weak form-letter response to follow, because that wouldn’t be real. But if you actually followed all of the previous steps, you shouldn’t have any problem fixing the issue, making the customer smile, and improving things internally so that these types of issues shouldn’t crop up again. The goal of responding is to create a space for positive experiences. The first response may, in fact, not be the last. Maybe your THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN RESPONDING Beyond making use of the tips and tricks discussed in this article, you can ask yourself a number of questions when you receive a new e-mail, find a blog post, or read a negative comment:

• Is this reader part of my target market?

• Are other readers saying something similar?

• Do these suggestions make intrinsic sense?

• Do they fit with my business’s values, promises, and future?

People care enough about your business to tell you what they think. And if they’re making suggestions on how to improve your business, they care enough to help your business grow. Several companies I work with actually offer both employees and customers a share of any profits or savings that result from ideas they generate. And why not? What better way to build a relationship based on value, respect, and communication than to value and respect your customers enough to say thank you with something of value to them? first response will be to apologize and ask for more details so that you can fix the issue, or maybe the initial customer response was detailed enough that you can go through the entire process and fix the problem. Either way, dealing with real people can be difficult, and it requires a process that adapts to people’s individual needs. Your business depends on your ability to create positive experiences, and dealing with customers who have had negative experiences is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Use that tool well, and you’ll start creating customer evangelists, but misuse it and you’re more likely to create saboteurs.

KEYS TO DEALING WITH NEGATIVITY

Dealing with negativity is ultimately about balancing the personal needs of the individuals involved in the situation with the actual needs of your company. You can’t, for example, solve a customer’s angst by giving him or her a new car. It might make them happy, but it won’t help your business survive if you give a car to every unhappy customer. Nor can you go to the other extreme and so protect your business that you don’t actually fix the problem or make customers happy. Effectively dealing with negativity is all about walking the fine line between real customer service and real business principles. That said, you can never really let any negative comment, e-mail, or blog post slip by. The one you don’t respond to may end up being the biggest scandal of your business life. You need to be aware of what is being said and be able to respond effectively, even if you aren’t able to fix the customer’s issue to the degree that might be ideal in a perfect world. As such, here are more tips, tricks, and thoughts on how to deal with negative comments effectively.

Don’t Answer Instinctively

Before you answer any type of negative feedback, stop, look at the comment, and go through the process defined earlier in the article (if only quickly) so that you have the right perspective when responding. Some comments need responses quickly, but taking 5 minutes to refocus yourself on the right priorities will turn a fast response into a fast and effective one. Evaluate Every Comment on Its Merits As part of finding the value, ensure that you look at each comment as its own distinct feedback. Did the customer have a negative experience? Was your business at least partially to blame? Is there a way to fix the situation? Don’t Personalize For too many of us, the instinctive answer to criticism is defensive in nature. This is the wrong type of reaction, as it simply reinforces the customer’s innate belief that you won’t do anything to fix the problem.

Answer

Any time anyone offers you feedback, it includes an underlying question. Sometimes this will be “Can you help me?” or “Do you care?” while other times it will be “Do you realize this product doesn’t actually work for me?” or “Are you going to fix this?” Make sure that any response you give is the answer to that underlying question.

Be Aware of Possible Outcomes

Before you click Send or Post, be aware that each response you provide is going to do one of two things: create a positive experience and properly represent the company so that your customer hears the truth, or create a negative experience that makes the issue a personal battle between the customer and the company. Passion Is Good Most people who respond to events via blog or e-mail possess some degree of passion about the experience. It may be complaints about your product or your company in general, a mistake that’s happened, or even a personal treatment. Either way, they do have passion, and passion is a good thing. Respond effectively, and that passion could be working for you. Respond poorly, and it will only work against you. Expect Negative Feedback

Get used to it: negative feedback will happen. If you make the best product in the world, some people still won’t like it. Even the best fashion designers and chefs in the world don’t please all the people all the time. Even the most sought-after automobiles have their fans and their detractors. No matter how good your product, company, or service, you will receive negative feedback. Don’t be shocked when it happens. People’s Expectations Are a Paradox On the one hand, all customers hope for a near-immediate response on the Internet. At the same time, due to their experiences, they have an expectation that responses will not only be poor, but they will be late and completely unrelated to the frustration they experienced. A fast experience is a good thing, because it exceeds a customer’s expectations, but you are delivering exactly what they expect when you respond quickly and impersonally. Your response needs to make the person feel human, valued, and respected. All Feedback Is an Opportunity Whether it’s an e-mail, a comment, or a blog post, every bit of feedback is an opportunity for you to create a relationship. If you respond quickly, properly, and in a friendly fashion, it proves that your company (and you, by association) is about real people making real products for real customers.

The First Response Isn’t the Last

Your first response needs to be as good as it can be. However, a great first response should lead to a second response, in which a customer (when treated properly the first time) will be willing to engage in a constructive dialogue. If you’ve identified the problem, run the solution by your customer to determine whether he or she believes it will help now and in the future. Your customers are your best product designers, because they buy your product.

People Transfer Blame

Whether or not it’s your fault, people transfer blame for all past poor customer service onto you and your company. As a result, simply responding in a “good enough” fashion isn’t good enough. Your response needs to be so extraordinary that the person knows he or she is dealing with a company that respects its customers.

Responding Takes Skill

Most responses will come in one of two flavors: a problem that has happened or an opinion being expressed. The potential for dialogue and relationship in dealing with a problem typically only goes as far as the solution to the problem, unless you really decide to get the customer involved in your business. With an opinion, though, you can acknowledge and respond to it, but begin a dialogue with the individual. An opinion expressed is a customer asking to be involved in your company. The best responses, no matter whether they’re to an opinion or to a problem, get your customers to feel a sense of ownership and participation in your business.

Poor English Isn’t Bad

Most businesses are accustomed to receiving feedback in only one language. On the Internet, though, you may receive feedback from people who do not speak English as their first language. In fact, thanks to online translation services, you may get feedback from someone who doesn’t speak English at all. Although translation services are helpful, the translation often makes the feedback appear as though it’s coming from a child using a dictionary to sound important.

For example, using AltaVista’s translation service (http://world.altavista.com ), the English phrase “I don’t appreciate your lack of quality control. I’d really appreciate it if you fixed this business issue” translated to Dutch and back to English generates this mangled masterpiece: “I do not appreciate your lack of quality control. I’d appreciate it really as you this company question confirmed.” Do not assume that simply because the quality of language is poor that someone’s experience and ability to recognize an issue is also poor.

WRAPPING IT UP

All feedback is good feedback even negative feedback. It’s far better to have an unhappy customer than to have no customers at all, so deal with every response as an opportunity to create a positive experience. This article should have given you not only the perspective necessary to deal with negative feedback effectively, but also the tools necessary to do so. It really all comes down to one little word, though: respect. If you can respect your customers enough to value all of their feedback, you’ll do well even on the worst days. In the next article, we’ll look at how to apply blogging to your company, set up smart goals for your blog, measure your blog’s effectiveness, and make sure your blog succeeds.