The entire point of the social web is to allow people to connect to people in ways that haven’t been possible before. Businesses use the social web in order to connect directly to their customers and potential customers. Part of being on the social web is listening and responding to customers and being transparent about those conversations. People talk about your company and products all the time. By having a presence online, you have the opportunity to be a part of those conversations, not only to help solve issues and get your side of the story heard, but also to improve products and services for future customers.
Justified Fear
One of the first questions I’m almost always asked by business owners is how we can set up moderation on any comments so they can approve them before they go live. Problems with spam aside, this usually arises because of a fear of what disgruntled customers or associates might post publicly. The fear is justified.
If people have a problem with you or your company, they’re definitely going to talk about it. They’re going to tell their family, friends and colleagues about what happened. This will definitely happen offline, but it’ll probably also happen online. It may or may not happen on your own profiles. And it may or may not happen where lots of other people can see it.
The Upside
By monitoring for mentions of your name (and company name and any product names) online, you’ll be aware of conversations that are happening about your company. You then have an opportunity to respond to any complaints, which often may result in a satisfied customer or at least letting everyone see that you’re trying to be reasonable. Then when people search for your company name, they may see some negative feedback, but they’ll hopefully also see you responding quickly and reasonable to any issues, which goes a long way. People understand that they’re always be some problems, but they want to know what sort of customer service you’re going to provide when there is a problem.
Providing a Platform
If you allow open commenting on your own online presence (blog, website, etc.), you’re providing a place where people know that they can get in touch with you. Yes, you may have some negative comments, but by providing a place where they’re welcome, you’re more likely to hear about them and be able to respond (without having to go searching). Opening yourself up to feedback is also seen as a positive by potential customers. They want to know that you’re listening and care about their experience.
Moderation vs. Transparency
Sure you could set it up so only positive feedback is seen on your site — so every comment has to be approved before it’s visible. But if people search about your company and see mixed feedback elsewhere and only positive on your site, they’re going to be very suspicious of everything you say. Your reputation will be much stronger if you’re open about problems (even being proactive in addressing them), then if you try to hide everything.
Hiding doesn’t work anymore. Problems and issues will be heard from other customers. Your online reputation will be built on how you respond and handle those problems. The more transparent you are, the more people will trust you. The more trust you have, the easier it is to market and sell your products. The more you know about actual experience from actual customers, the more you can improve your products to address those issues and beat your competition.
Moderation has it’s place. If someone is being offensive or is just trolling for a fight, removing their comments is certainly justified. Moderation should be used in moderation (heh). It should be a tool to address statements and conversations that have no place in public. Moderation should be an end point, not a starting point.
Hearing Feedback can be Difficult
Hearing what people really think about your company or products can be really hard. Having others hear the feedback can be even more difficult. But everyone makes mistakes and has areas that need to be improved. By hearing constructive feedback, we can improve ourselves and our companies to be stronger for the long run.
What do you think?
(photo by ClickFlashPhotos / Nicki Varkevisser, on Flickr)