Web 2.0 Damage Control

By Jeff Schmitt

We've all survived bad customer service. An unhappy customer will tell eight or more people about a bad experience, and three-quarters will never buy from you again. Of course, only one in 10 unhappy customers will ever tell you about their experience.

Word of mouth can sink your business faster than you can counter. Still, many marketers sit back and watch the complaints roll in, believing they would tip them off to improper behaviors and emerging trends.

Today, there are few barriers to individuals sharing their thoughts with a large audiences. These opinions can be easily publicized across the Web, without being filtered for truth or merit. Everyone has a voice and an outlet. Exposure equals credibility.

This shift has tremendous ramifications for businesses. Imagine a prospective business partner or employee Googling your company. Do you know everything they will find on the first page of a search engine? Will they sift through your Web site pages and carefully orchestrated publicity? Or will they find an anonymous, brutally critical posting on a message board?

The Internet has forever changed publicity. It is no longer the volume of complaints bubbling below the surface that can derail your brand reputation. It only takes one disgruntled person with Internet savvy and writing ability. Any self-styled activist or emotional hypochondriac now has a means and a weapon.

It is an asymmetrical threat, the Web 2.0 equivalent of bad word of mouth, gossip and slander, often rolled into one. Depending on your search optimization, personal grievances can have equal footing with your publicity machine. It is a PR nightmare you cannot anticipate.

Think about these threats:

Watchdog sites: With any complaint, your goals are to soothe the customer, keep the business and encourage privacy. With sites like ripoffreport.com, the latter is near impossible. Here, any dirty laundry—a rude employee, an unsatisfactory resolution, a failure to live up to expectations—is there for the world to read, regardless of validity.
Online communities: These networks sprout up on what seems like a daily basis. While they foster bonds between people with similar experiences and interests, they can also reinforce prejudices and spread fabrications. Blog postings offer similar drawbacks.
Custom Web sites: Imagine having a site devoted specifically to trashing your organization. Look no further than wakeupwalmart.com. Imagine you are a sports executive and have a site publicizing every blunder you make. Ask Jerry Angelo of the Chicago Bears (who has the added ignominy of firejerry.com shirts and mugs selling on the net). From an outraged fan to a well-funded union, people can leverage Web sites to distribute their message and mobilize like-minded people.
YouTube: Want to become an Internet sensation? Have a staff member captured on camera or tape doing something embarrassing. See it get posted on YouTube. Have it jump mainstream to the late night talk shows. Watch it spread virally via e-mail. Have it picked up in the old guard press as a symbol of larger abuses. Can't happen? Ask AOL about the service agent who put a 20-minute full court press on a customer attempting to cancel his service.

Even worse, it isn't always outsiders who pose the biggest threat. Look at your own employees and partners. Today, sensitive documents can easily be scanned, downloaded and spread with a mouse click. And your employees often have rich lives outside the office. Do they mention you on their MySpace or Facebook profiles? Are you the subject of any of their blog rants?

What can you do? Very little. These revolutionary trends can't be reined in. However, there are some steps to anticipating and mitigating the damage:


Audit: Learn what people are saying about you. Use it as a learning tool, to help you better understand your customers and pinpoint your weaknesses. Audit the web regularly, as new sites, communities and postings can pop up every day.

Counsel: Review your privacy policies with legal. Make sure your employees understand your expectations. Of course, don't stray into heavy-handedness; you'll quickly become the subject of parodies or hard feelings that could discredit you beyond the corporate walls.

Awareness: You know that any jaded customer or employee can expose your embarrassing moments to the world. How do you react? Do you withdraw or become guarded? Or, do you fully commit to being honorable with everyone? Similarly, examine your operations. How do you resolve conflicts? How well do you follow up? How well do you consistently deliver your brand experience?

Be proactive: Escalate all issues. Review them. Follow up. It is no longer just about looking for trends, but being prepared. It is about anticipating any potential embarrassment and having a media-based disaster recovery plan.


Jeff Schmitt is a consultant from Dubuque. His e-mail is jschmittdbq@mchsi.com.