The Conversation Happens With or Without You

When we are in the planning stages of creating a social media plan for our clients, one of our talking points is to allow comments or not to allow comments. If the company is just beginning their social media presence, a look of concern clouds their representatives’ eyes and someone inevitably utters, “But what if the comment is something we don’t want to hear?”

This simple question represents a significant change in marketing practices (discussed in more detail in an earlier post). Companies can no longer hide behind artfully crafted marketing pieces and not be willing to engage in a conversation with their customers. Your company’s not providing a forum won’t stop the conversation.  Ask Dell.

For those of you who don’t know the story…. Dell had a few unhappy customers and didn’t provide the customer support they expected, and even worse, refused to acknowledge the unhappy folks. One of the unhappy ones decided to launch a forum at www.ihatedell.com where other unhappy folks came to bash Dell and help each other quickly solve their issues. It didn’t take Dell long to realize that their clinging to business as usual didn’t exactly work so well for the bottom line.

Dell’s solution? Read the rest of this entry »

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