Online Business Marketing: How to Deal With Angry Customers Online

Worldwide Exposure. As an online business marketing on the internet that’s what we go for, right? But, it’s also what a lot of online businesses dread as they open up their businesses as free game to millions of anonymous people that are either going to love you or hate you. We all love the ones that love us, that’s easy. But what about the ones that “hate” us? How do you deal with angry customers online? How do you deal with the haters, that aren’t your customers but for some reason seem Hell bent on the demise of your business? Here are a few simple tips to seduce your haters.

“You attend to their issues as rapidly and transparently as possible. And here’s what happens: the squeaky wheel is not only silenced but seduced…”-Bob Garfield

Don’t ignore them and hope they will go away.

Now, by saying this I’m not suggesting that you try to please everyone. Taking a cue from a little something that Bill Cosby once said, If you try to please everyone in your business you’ll end up pleasing (and serving) nobody.

Smart online business marketing starts with understanding the core value and core mission of your product and service. Yes, you will tweak some of your products along the way, make improvements, present them in a better way, repurpose your content, and incorporate new information that is aligned with those core values. But the foundation of your business, the stuff that you are building your empire on, shouldn’t change.

So deal with an angry customer, hater, or squeaky wheel. If you are honest and have been transparent with the intentions of your business, then there is no reason to hide.

Is your Online Business Marketing Content Confusing?

First, take out your ego, pride and hurt and decide if there is some validity to what the angry customer is saying. Most of the time, their hatred stems not from any personal feelings toward you but instead from frustrations over a transaction that didn’t go as planned. Other times they may have had expectations of one thing and then received another. In both of these cases, figure out if you need to make any adjustments to your online marketing. Is the content confusing? Could you explain things in a different manner? One good rule of thumb is to always try to under-promise and over-deliver.

“In a transparent world, engaging an unhappy customer has a twofold win. You get to learn from the critic with a megaphone and you get to turn a foe into a friend.” – Steven Rosenbaum “Curation Nation”

Be Transparent – If you Don’t Have the Answer, say so!

There will be times when you can’t answer or solve the angry customer’s problem. That’s okay! If you are like most entrepreneurs you are curious, and you like to solve problems. So their frustrations may just be an opportunity for you to create a solution, create a product to sell, and then actually profit from their anger by providing a benefit or solution for other customers with that same concern. You turn their anger into a solution! You can tell them, “I don’t have an answer for that right now. But I appreciate you bringing it to my attention. If I’m able to come up with a solution that might help you, I’ll be sure to let you know!”

Now – here’s a tip: If you keep getting the same frustrations over and over from various clients – happy and unhappy – then you know that there’s an audience for that particular solution! Develop a product to sell that addresses their problem…cha ching!

Deal with Angry Customers on the Same Platform

If an unhappy customer is talking about you on Facebook, then be sure your response can be found on Facebook; if it’s YouTube then a video response may be a good angle, if they have a blog, then comment on their blog. The goal here is to acknowledge them…often people just want to be heard.

Don’t deny, deflect or quash. In today’s online business world that’s not very effective. Acknowledge them, but don’t feel as if you have to fuel any continuing ill feelings. You don’t have to continue to engage with them if they truly are just mean-spirited. That’s a waste of your energy and time.

Category: Marketing / Tags: , , , ,

How to Use the Core Story Principle to Build Brand Value

What is a core story?

If your communication doesn’t match up with your brand values, your stakeholders will not understand your brand’s offering, and there will be a gap between your brand’s external image and your company’s internal identity. Using a core story is a strategic way of aligning your communication to create a consistent message about your brand.

Your core story is your central brand message and the basis of all your communication. The aim of using a core brand story is to close any gap there might be between your brand’s external image and your company’s internal identity and ultimately building your brand’s value. The story should be relevant and appealing to all of your stakeholders, so they are drawn to it and want to connect with you, your brand and your company.

What are the benefits of using a core story to communicate your brand values?

The benefits of using a core brand story include: 
- A platform for basing the rest of your storytelling (and other) communication on, resulting in consistent communication of brand values 
- An easy and efficient way of communicating your brand values and your company’s mission and vision 
- Stakeholders easily understanding and becoming drawn to connect with your brand values and company 
- A way of aligning, enhancing and communicating your marketing and communication strategy 
- A way of differentiating your brand and business and standing out from the competition 
- A way of engaging your stakeholders in the brand story, resulting in more positive psychological co-creation and word of mouth

Where do you “find” your core story?

The most important criteria for your core brand story is that it must be authentic – either based on an authentic personal story (like what motivated you to start your own company), or an authentic problem (like using fictional characters to illustrate the problem you are solving through your services). A good start on a core brand story for a small company or solopreneur is why you got started in the first place, what your values are and what your mission is with your company – basically your about page on your website.

However, for bigger and/or older companies, more people have had an influence on the brand and have helped co-create the brand through interacting with it. Therefore, the bigger the company, the more stakeholders you want to involve before creating your story. Consumers, customers, employees and others can be involved in creating the story. Through listening to these stakeholder groups’ stories about their experiences with the brand (for example customer reviews), you can create an authentic co-created story that includes the internal culture and external experiences with the brand. Involving a lot of stakeholders in creating your core brand story will also be effective in lessening the gaps in external image and internal identity.

How do you use your core story to communicate your brand values?

Think of your core story as a way to direct the rest of your communication. The articles you retweet on Twitter, share on Facebook or LinkedIn are more valuable to your brand if they have something in common with it (making retweeting web design articles more valuable if you are a web designer). The blogposts you create should establish you as a form of expert in your field of service, in turn making your brand and service more valuable and attractive. Your goal should be to communicate valuable, meaningful and interesting messages about your brand, that your stakeholders can connect with. Basically, before communicating with your stakeholders, you want to make sure that your message is consistent with your story and brand values, so as not to confuse your stakeholders about your brand.

Category: Business Branding / Tags: , , , ,

Why Risk Management Jobs Are Vital to Your Business Operations

Unemployment is still extremely high in our country and the problem does not seem to be letting up as every company today is trying desperately to keep their budget balanced and ensure that all of their employees are absolutely necessary. Sadly, many businesses have had to lay off some staff members in order to keep costs down and are hesitant to hire new ones. Many positions are being combined so that one staff member is doing a large number of job functions in order to avoid paying two workers. There is one absolutely vital area of your business that you simply cannot afford to make any cuts in. This area is risk management. Risk management jobs are a truly essential part of your company’s day to day operations and this department will keep your business functioning at the highest level by carefully controlling the risks that are inherent in business.

A risk manager and risk management team perform a large number of important functions in an organization. A risk manager will determine where possible threats are within the structure of the company and will decide how these should be dealt with. They will also prioritize all of these functions within the company. Risk management jobs in a business help the company to run smoother and more effectively while side-stepping any kinds of unnecessary setbacks. Many risks can come up in the everyday operations of a company. Some recurring risks that can be monitored and controlled, or possibly even removed, include uncertainty in the financial markets, possible infringements on the law, failures of projects in any stage, common accidents, and blatant attacks by competitors in the same industry. The people that are responsibly for skillfully dealing with managing risks must always oversee and make sure that all of these various areas are in control and that there is a comprehensive and strategic plan in place if any of these threats become a detriment to the company. These team members are quite possibly some of the most important staffers on your team because they will be working every day to continue the safe running of your company and will help to steer clear of any unnecessary problems that might arise when disasters happen. Many disasters started off as a tiny situation and by properly controlling and eliminating the challenge your business will run easier. That is why Executive Search Firms is very important in a business.

In order to find people to perform risk management jobs in your business, you should look for individuals who have the correct personality traits to help them become successful in the role. These should be people who can keep a level head no matter how stressful a situation, as well as someone who is trained in actuarial science and is comfortable with difficult mathematical and statistical analysis. They should be skilled in communications and should have leadership abilities. Their other strengths should lie in dealing with specific data as opposed to ideas and in keeping their tasks organized.

Category: Business Management / Tags: , , , , ,
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