Having tracked conversations, analyzed trends, poured over your web stats, and otherwise looked deep into how the blogging world feels about your company, brand, and products, you will undoubtedly come to realize that actual feedback is buried in there. Some of that feedback will be good, some will be bad, and some will simply be questions to which you should respond. But no matter what kind of feedback you get, all of it deserves an answer.

Dealing with good comments can often be the most difficult thing, because the temptation is simply to acknowledge the feedback and move on. However, a positive comment is an open door for you to move that customer one step closer to being an evangelist for you. It’s an opportunity for you to create yet another positive experience with your company and begin building a relationship. Take that responsibility seriously.

Likewise, a bad comment should not be ignored. I’ve said time and time again that an unhappy customer is a passionate customer waiting to happen. And, like the good comment, someone posting a bad comment is giving you the opportunity to interact with her. Not only is it welcome, but in many ways it’s expected: because she has interacted with you, ignoring the poster would only drive her farther away. In this case, inaction is just about the worst thing you could do. Questions, support issues, and other customer relations types of comments should be handled quickly. In an ideal world, all comments even questions should get a response in less than 24 hours. Even a response like this is better than nothing: “Thank you for your comment. I have routed this request to the appropriate team. If you don’t hear back from them in a few days, let me know and I’ll follow up.” When someone uses your blog to comment on one of these topics, she isn’t just stating that she has an issue she expects to get help. She is asking for you to create a positive experience for her.

RULES FOR RESPONDING TO COMMENTS

Here are three cardinal rules for responding to comments:

• Respond quickly.

• Be human.

• Follow up to ensure resolution.

The best way to make a great impression is to respond to a comment in as short a timeframe as possible so that the comment’s importance has not diminished. Twenty-four hours is a good amount of time, eight hours is better, and under an hour is best. For large companies, these comments can go into existing customer relations pools (assuming they work well enough to produce a response that is not only timely, but respectful). For smaller companies, treat a comment on your blog as you would treat a customer who came into your office with a question: you would probably drop everything to help, and someone commenting on your blog deserves no less because she is approaching you. Responding with a human voice, and not with an automated reply, is important. It can also be the most difficult part of this process, because some comments on blogs can become repetitive. Several companies have started responding to repetitive comments within their own posts, and then (nicely) pointing future commenters back to that post, with a note to the effect of “Thanks for the comment! We recognize that this is an area we need to improve on, and we’ve jotted down some thoughts for how we plan to do that here: [include the link].” Follow-up and effective customer relations go hand in hand. This is one of the reasons having individuals responsible for blog comments is more effective than having departments responsible for them. Allow the individuals to own a customer interaction, and allow them the freedom to ensure that customers are properly dealt with and that they go away with a smile. The people who respond to your blog comments are like frontline sales people in a retail store: they offer you the best chance at making a great impression.

LEAVE COMMENTS ON OTHER BLOGS

While responding to comments on your blog may seem fairly obvious, it isn’t the end of the road for feedback. As you’ve no doubt seen if you’ve used Technorati and other tracking services, comments about your company probably appear on other blogs. Bloggers who post impressions of companies on their blogs are practically begging for you to provide feedback. These posts provide an opportunity for you fix any problems and entice bloggers to try you again. A friend of mine experienced an incident with an airline and missed a flight due to delays; he ultimately ended up missing a job interview and therefore not getting the job. He contacted the airline’s customer service, but there wasn’t much they could do about a lost job opportunity. After writing about the experience on his blog, a senior airline executive contacted him and asked, “Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?” This simple response changed my friend’s outlook about the airline. He realized that there really wasn’t much the company could do, but the fact that someone cared enough to reach out to him.