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JJ Ramberg

JJ Ramberg is the anchor of “Your Business,” MSNBC’s weekly show on small business. In addition to her extensive television reporting experience, Ramberg has a background as an entrepreneur and co-founded GoodSearch.com. She has an MBA from Stanford Business School.



To respond, or not to respond?

Posted: Thursday, May 14, 2009 10:50 AM by JJ Ramberg
Filed Under: , ,

What do you do when someone posts something unflattering about your company on a blog? Do you respond?

We’ve received this question a few times from our viewers and each time it has elicited a different response from our show panel. This is far from a black and white issue.

Here’s the problem in a nutshell: If you respond to an unflattering posting, you risk turning something that could have remained as a minor issue into a big deal.

On the other hand, if you don’t respond, you risk someone reading unflattering and possibly untrue information about your company without hearing your defense.

One business owner whose company’s customer service was taken to task in a blog told me this:

“I was kicking myself for even engaging with one upset customer in a public forum like a blog. I read what he said and I felt I had to respond to set the record straight, but the result was a weeklong back and forth communication in the public eye and there was nothing I could do to satisfy the customer or change his mind. In the end, I think that if I had just left it alone, it would have gone away and people would not have remembered it. Because I took it up a notch and responded, it became a ‘thing.’ And I don’t know how many people will read it and believe my side and how many potential customers I lost because they will believe him.”

My panelists have given a range of advice. Some say you should never respond, while others say it depends on how popular a blog is. Others believe you should always respond to a posting, not only to set the record straight, but also to give your company a voice and show both customers and potential customers that you care.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your experiences with this issue.

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Comments

I think that it is good to respond, up to a point. If you get a customer that will never be satisfied, I believe that other readers will also see that and then you can gracefully "bow out". A week of back and forth was probably not a good thing?

Stevem Tyler area, Texas (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 3:51 PM)

You respond to set the record straight, just the facts, no emotion.  If your company could even be perceived as being wrong, make it right by a refund, replacement or what ever works for you. You do not respond any further.  If the other party continues to rant and rave, then other bolggers will know what you are dealing with.  

John Frederick, McKinleyville, CA (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 4:01 PM)

I don't feel there is any blanket answer to the question. Do you respond or not? I suppose a lot has to do with your industry and how your company normally communicates with customers (on both a private/direct level as well as in a public setting such as a blog or forum).

In the current economy, my impression is that consumers are looking for companies to be more open about their services and support, and a great way to accomplish this is by communicating in online forums and blogs.

I for one tend to engage in open discussions about our services online. Whenever a customer posts a comment or concern, I make a point of addressing the question in a professional and honest manner.

What I will not do, however, is participate an argument. If the person posting the comment is out to pick a fight, most of the readership can see through this. If we have done our due diligence and the person is still upset, we will try draw the exchange to a close by stating that we respect the other party's right to an opinion, but at the same time we've done all we can to demonstrate our willingness in the open forum to ameliorate the situation.

We've rarely had a case where doing so backfired, and if anything, it served as an example of our commitment to customer satisfaction and care, which opened many more doors from other members of that community who became interested in our services as a result of us being willing to stand up and take heat from the original poster.

All situations are different though, and I'd be interested to read what other businesses have done in similar situation.

Thank you,

David Anderson
Principal, Canvas Dreams, LLC

David Anderson, Portland, Oregon (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 4:14 PM)

This is a Catch-22 situation. As one who runs two work-related Web sites (one with interactive forums), two blogs, I can relate to the pros and cons of defending yourself. The ignore them and they will go away sometimes works, sometimes not. Confrontation feels good but often there is a backlash.

And on occasion a poster can turn into a thriller sci-fi scary type of episode where you may end up contacting the police for protection. Been there, done that. The bottom line: There is no perfect solution. Each situation is different. Follow your instincts.

Cal Orey (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 4:51 PM)

Without knowing the specifics of this particular situation, it's difficult to respond, but I have some general suggestions. One of the most important things to keep in mind when responding to negative blogs or other coverage is that some people may not have seen the original item, so you want to respond in a way that enables you to present your own messages without repeating the negatives previously stated.  You NEVER want to repeat the comments of your critics. For example, somebody writes a blog that says, "So-and-so's website is full of misinformation."  Instead of responding directly to that individual and defending yourself, write a blog or response that says, "We have developed a very rigorous fact-checking policy, using XYZ sources as our final authority on accuracy. Sometimes people disagree with our content, and they have the right to do so, of course, but we are confident that we've taken all the steps necessary to validate the info we post before we make it public."  This enables you to set the record straight without appearing defensive, and presents your positive message in a non-confrontational light.  This often averts further discussion because your critics aren't sure where to take the next level of argument.

Marsha Kelly (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 5:54 PM)

I'm part owner of a seasonal service company and that's one of my areas that I handle.The one thing that I do is let the customer do all the talking and aat the end of the conversation is explain the companies view on why we handle certion problems the way we do. Most cases the customer is calm down and will understand our view of the situtaion.

Mike Butler (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 6:46 PM)

The mistake is trying to "set the record straight".  This is the wrong tact - as an owner, you do not get to participate in creating the record, in general the blogoshpere will only take offense to this, as they should, for the owner is far too biased.  The only response should be to acknowledge the criticism and/or the mistake, provide any explanation for why your company has taken the action (be completely honest), and what you are doing to improve the situation.  And then you can only hope that the "record" will be straightened by other bloggers.

And with that, you should respond only if you have value to add - don't spam, don't give generalized excuses, and don't criticise.  Be specific, be detailed, and provide additional information.  Good or bad, feedback should strengthen your company.  Even a negative discussion will encourage some readers to investigate further, at which point you have the strength of your product to change minds.

Jeff Miller, Seattle, Wash (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 7:38 PM)

Oh dear, I remember way back when AOL was still charging by the hour I annoyed someone in one of the chat rooms. This person apparently had no life to speak of because they made it their life mission to villify me to any and all who would listen. My response? I took a page from my grandmothers book...I let it go. I never spoke a harsh word against them, I never got into a discussion about it with anyone online. Period, end of story. The funny thing is that by taking the high road I removed that persons power. Since they were the one ranting and raving and carrying on and I wasn't playing the game people came to see that that I was the injured party. The end result was that my reputation remained intact and theirs was ruined.

Catherine Mechanicsville Virginia (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 8:11 PM)

My policy is to try and solve things as much as possible over the phone. Words on screen often fail to impart the right tone and tone counts for a lot.

If I was confronted with such a situation as a negative blog posting I would try and call the person immediately and work through a satisfactory resolution to their complaint person-to-person.

Blogs are too easy to turn nasty. It's amazing how nice the same person can be over the phone versus email or internet. Your chances of resolving the issue are much better over the phone.

Do you let the blog post stand unanswered? You might have to if the person can't be helped.

Chris Cummins, Kansas City, Mo. (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 8:15 PM)

It really depends.  Our business, fortunately, has never been in a position where we had to answer to so public a forum as a blog posting.  However, I've known people who have, and, for the most part, I found their responses to be not defensive (very important) and pretty straightforward, such as "I'm sorry you feel the way that you do.  A recent customer survey showed 97% of our customers were pleased with our service.  We try to resolve issues...blah, blah...".  Sometimes, there's not much a business person can do.  Being sensitive to the customer, and showing it in a response, is important.  It will then be evident that the episode is an isolated one, rather than the norm for people dealing with the company....

J. Van, Providence, RI (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:03 PM)

Im a car forum blogger and my experience is ignore the attacks and dont put any importance to it. Otherwise the attacker wins in getting more attention to the matter. But if you feel that the attack needs to be address, I normally do a counter attack but in the general sense making the (target: either issue or person) a third person. I like someone personal attack to me, I will let is slide for a couple of days, so it will seem that my response attack is pre-meditated. In a couple of days, my response can be like; "Its really funny how some club official hide their insecurities by displaying their position titles in public eye to warrant their position as the official position of the club without any proper evidence to back it up. Shame on you "

Al Santos (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:23 PM)

I think you respond without trying to resolve the issue in the blog itself. You ask the person to contact you personally to try to resolve the issue privately. If the person continues to post negatively in the blog, resist the temptation to reply. Your first reply is enough for others to see that you care and offered to explore a solution. Also, only one response by you shows that you are not over-reacting and are attempting to remain amicable and professional.

If, in private communications, the complainer cannot be passified, offer a refund or discount on a future purchase. Keep all your correspondence professional and friendly, as he might post your messages to the blog. If he does this, discontinue all contact with him and be prepared to take legal action if necessary.

I've seen this on blogs before and generally, some people have a reputation for complaining. And as long as the company rep remains professional, the other bloggers tended to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sam, Pompton Lakes, NJ (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 11:04 PM)

My experience with responding to unfavorable comments runs the gamut.  Some statements just don't deserve a response.  Others require some comment ...but know when to "cut bait".  There are some detractors who feed on any response and reply again and again with a litany of counter-arguments.  Rather than get into point - counterpoint, sometime it is sufficient to say, "Sorry you weren't satisfied" and drop it.

The positive person sees the glass half full, to the negative person it is half empty ...but the curmudgeon says, "It's not a glass.  It's a cup".

Bill McGreehan, Cincinnati, Ohio (Sent Tuesday, May 12, 2009 11:41 PM)

I don't think it hurts to respond, as long as you keep your response civil, professional, and to the point. The public will often judge your business by your posting(s), so show some class and refrain from responding in a manner that will give your malcontent any more credibility than he needs.

Diana, Spokane, WA (Sent Wednesday, May 13, 2009 12:24 AM)

One thing important to remember is that blog and blog comments stay around forever. So even if nobody is reading that blog post today does not mean they won't be reading it (or stumbling upon it) years and even decades from now.

The value in responding to a complaint in a public forum is to demonstrate that you're trying to be responsive to a customer issue.

If you ignore it, your company very clearly comes across as not caring. If you attempt to address it, even if not to the satisfaction of the original customer, all the other potential customers will see you've made the effort.

If the irritated customer is totally unreasonable, other people can pick up on that too.

In other words, it's not about resolving that specific issue that's the only thing that matters. It's the fact that how you address that issue reflects on your business overall and a record of that interaction stays around forever.

Victor Cheng, San Francisco, CA (Sent Wednesday, May 13, 2009 2:03 AM)

Recently had to deal with this. Kept it very civil and tried to ask relevant, respectful questions and let the irrationality and instability of the author shine through. In the end we sued him and his ISP and the court ordered his blog removed and him to pay damages and court costs.

If you post ask good questions, print out all repsonses and postings. The sue them into the ground as well as their ISP and blog provider. Worked for us but it was clear our guy was a nut job.

Anonymous (Sent Wednesday, May 13, 2009 4:32 AM)

hey get real,you are on the internet and this among other things will have to be delt with as they come. everyone will have problems of some kind and theire is no easy way around someone getting into your business.we all want to be on the internet doing our thing, wheather it be blogging,chat rooms,facebook, and loads of other things we can be doing. we just deal with it.

nim weber (Sent Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:33 AM)

How about simply deleting it? Sometimes negative comments can be left written for no apparent reason other than spite, and this could make your business or client relations look bad.

Rich - Tallahassee, Fl (Sent Wednesday, May 13, 2009 9:36 AM)

Proceed with extreme caution! To consumers, your company is guilty before being proved innocent.  Frankly, there are times we've been 'guilty' of the substance of the comments, however attempts were made to rectify and a customer has been uncooperative.
Best advice: DO respond to the blog with a general statement of regret for the bloggers dilema; DO state the companies committment to resolving 'these types of situations'; DO stress your companies intent to assist the blogger or situation; DO highlight that you've already been taking steps to assist...only if it's true.  DO NOT address the specific blog in detail, you can't possibly explain the whole situation and if you try via a long description it only looks worse; DO NOT challenge the negative blogger to restate or further defend their position, it only infuriates them and encourages more derogotory info; basically DO NOT invite readers to judge the case on line.

Jim Janco, Westminster, CO (Sent Wednesday, May 13, 2009 9:59 AM)

I firmly believe that most people will recognize who is being truthful fair, and reasonable when reading about these disputes.  When a business takes a tone of humility and promises to continue working with the customer to get something right, or explains the details in a satisfying way, people will accept your view and recognize that the complainer is off base.  But when you have an indefensible or consumer-unfriendly policy (like "customer should have read our sign on the loading dock that says NO RETURNS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES"), then you're the bad guy, not just in appearance but also in reality, and shouldn't bother defending yourself...  

Rich (Sent Wednesday, May 13, 2009 10:14 AM)

Every few years I too get a nut case customer.  I always refund the purchase in full and lose money when this happens.  I run an honest business and especially want every customer 100% satisfied but I think everyone knows this is impossible.  I'm not sure why some people act the way they do but really believe they have a screw loose and you cannot make them happy.  Even by a full refund and them getting new parts on the car repaired for no charge they have threatened to turn me in to BBB and State of CA licensing bureau.  These people are possibly completely nuts. How do they survive in this world???

Ron Hulse (Sent Wednesday, May 13, 2009 11:55 AM)

The messages must be responded to by a quick restatement of the problem as observed by the business, apologies for a different perspective or action which differed from the customer expectation, the willingness to rethink and change if the customer is right, and an explanation that the situation may cause a re-thinking of the business policy or procedure.  All of these show sympathy and empathy but that the business might need to not make changes if the process that caused the posting generally works for the business.

Lou Polur, Clearwater, FL (Sent Wednesday, May 13, 2009 12:43 PM)



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