08/ 01/ 2007
by Judy Artunian
Before blogs and online forums began proliferating the Web, a company could quietly take care of its product quality and customer-service problems. But today, everything from manufacturing snafus to controversial statements by executives is potential fodder for a debate in cyberspace. And not only on blogs and traditional forums. Critiques and praise about products and companies are multiplying on MySpace.com, Facebook.com and other social networking Web sites.
You don't have to respond to a single complaint about your company that might pop up on a blog. But when several people are criticizing you for the same thing, it's time to acknowledge their complaints. If you think their complaints are valid, post a response. Thank the customers for their comments, admit there is a problem and explain your plan to remedy it. Tell them that you regret that during the last few months your company has been slow to ship replacement parts, but you are in the process of implementing a new shipping policy which will ensure prompt delivery.
If you don't agree with the complaints, thank the consumers for their comments and provide your take on the situation. Whatever you do, don't take online slights personally. or make derogatory comments about people who disagree with you.
Write your comments in a professional yet conversational style. A response that is written in stilted corporate-speak doesn't sound genuine. If one manager is particularly well-versed on the topic, ask him to respond to online complaints. The responder's name and title should accompany the post. Putting a human face on the conversation gives people more trust in the person responding and a warmer feeling about your company as a whole. To reinforce that personal connection, some companies post a link to a video of a manager delivering a responding to online comments.
Your comments should be posted on the same blog or forum thread where the original criticism appeared. Add a link to relevant comments or information that appears on your Web site.
How do you keep track of what is being said on the Web about you or your company (or your competitors, for that matter)? Among the most popular free, targeted search services are Google Alerts and Technorati. You can instruct Google Alerts to search for your organization's name as well as keywords related to your business and brand. The service will send you links to sites where your search terms appear either once a day or throughout the day. On Technorati, you conduct your own searches to find out where your company is being discussed in user-generated content (such as blogs) only.
