Customer Vigilantes

Comment

Comment by Phil Gerbyshak on September 6, 2008 at 6:09pm

Negative word of mouth is a HUGE problem for companies, where just 1 bad experience can cost a company a million dollars or more. Done online (as many of the others who've commented here have said) and complaints can quickly overwhelm a company's name and website.

Kim Proctor said it very well: "...listening and responding to customers is an easy place to start."

But what else do they need to do? Seems so simple to do right, so why do so many choose to do wrong?

I thought about this with the folks at Papa John's and a pizza experience I had a few years ago. I have a friend who works INSIDE PJ's, and they still can't fix my problem. $25 is all I wanted. Now, I tell EVERYONE about it. I've done tons of presentations on this topic, and still, they don't fix it.

Sad...truly sad!

PS If you want to read about my Papa John's story, here's a link.

Comment by Marc on August 25, 2008 at 2:30pm

Word of mouth is a double edged sword, and it pays to remember that one edge is much sharper than the other! I remember reading many years ago that if someone has something good to say about you, they might tell 1 in 10 people, but if they have something bad to say they will say it to 9 out of 10 people they meet! (I may have the figures wrong as it was many years ago, but the principle is correct).

It is an unfortunate truth that people love to spread bad news. I'm not referring to people like Frank who take a proactive action to resolve a problem, but rather all the people who read Franks sign. I wonder how many of them went home and told their spouses about it. And how many spouses called up their friends and relayed the tale.

I know that in my neck of the woods, a bad story can cross the complex faster than I can walk it (less than 2 minutes)!

As word of mouth marketers we must be prepared to stand by our product or service. If we are not prepared to be our own best customers, then how can we expect anyone else to be any sort of customer?

Cheers, Marc

Comment by Kim Proctor on August 24, 2008 at 4:34pm

I think this is awesome - and Frank, your action was awesome too. It takes things like this for blind companies to realize the customer is in charge. We need a revolution in business that starts with customer relationships that are two-way and this is what will bring us to healthier business and happier customers. I have a blog and at least 25% are comments of customer experiences that could have been improved. I want to help businesses but they have to help themselves first. And listening and responding to customers is an easy place to start.

Comment by Jack Shipley on August 19, 2008 at 12:11pm

Stories:

Across the street from the local Dodge dealer, at a very busy intersection, a disgruntled customer expresses his opinion with his car bannered with complaints.

Google a local Chevy dealer and the next listing will be site aggregating complaints.

National City Bank is struggling and in the midst of a major ad campaign to boost its consumer base. Yet, Google cites 280,000 citations for "complaints, National City."

Negative word of mouth is a huge barrier.

Comment by Ben McConnell on August 18, 2008 at 6:09pm

Yet one more reason that the First Amendment is first.

Comment by Victory Darwin on August 18, 2008 at 5:02pm

Me and several clients that I referred to SEO / SEM / traffic generation service called trafficassistants.com received "worse than bad" service and no refunds and refusal to reply to our concerns or communicate at all. They could have got off the hook for $1500 refund, but instead they chose to let me be the consumer advocate that I am. They were warned. For months I outranked them for their own domain. Even over a year later several posts made by others which link to my original posts still outrank them. Others have taken up the cause, referencing my original documented experiences.

I think the key is this when it comes to consumer advocacy:

ALL YOU VICTIMS GOT TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET
AND QUIT BEING WEENIES.
It's because you are all too embarrassed to talk that these scum go on to scam the next innocent person.

...it's not that we are trying to bash the bad guys... we want to protect others from harm. keeping it in a positive light.

Comment by Victory Darwin on August 18, 2008 at 4:50pm

HERE'S MY POLICY STATED BELOW EVERY PAYPAL BUTTON:

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! If you are at all like me, when you receive great service from a company, you tell your friends, and when you receive bad service, you tell EVERYONE! That's why if you wish to cancel at any time for any reason, you will receive an automatic repayment of $89 to cover your previous 30 days of service. You have absolutely no risk!

Comment by Zane Safrit on August 18, 2008 at 3:35pm

Thanks, all.

Frank. You're a hero in my book. Simple, effective leadership and communications gets results.

Comment by Adrienne Zurub on August 18, 2008 at 3:15pm

It is action and it will work because as Tara states, "..negative word-of-mouth does cast doubt in the minds of consumers."
Unfortunately, some construction companies have this type of bad reputation (and other companies as well) and people are more likely to heed this public complaint!

I do not think most people seeing the sign will do a psychological evaluation on the sign maker. I do think that curious people and notably the media will be calling the phone number to get the story. Well done Miron! ...and Zane

Comment by Frank Motola on August 18, 2008 at 1:30pm

Reminds me of something I did many years ago, my wifes employer at the time owed her quite a bit of money (real estate commission) and decided that since she no longer worked for him, he would not pay her. I made myself a sign on a stick and walked back and forth in front of his busy office. The sign simply read Mr. Mazz refuses to pay my wifes commission. He called the police and they were kind enough to point out that I was on public property and what my sign said was within the law. The second day that I showed up with my sign he sent someone downstairs with a check. Net investment in time and sign - approx. 120.00, gain in unpaid debt - appox. 950.00, for me it was well worth it! Today, I would advise checking with local ordinances regarding signs first.

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