IQL Consulting

So if Company Y have discovered selling in the 21st century and are finding it cheaper and more effective than the traditional route… Why aren’t Company X joining in?

Here are some common fears businesses have about making the change – and some suggestions on how to handle them.

FEAR: Customers could be negative.

If Company X starts talking with their consumers, they might open themselves up to complaints or even downright abuse from members of the public. Who’s got time to deal with that? And what if it starts a wave of negativity that spreads to previously happy customers? It feels much safer to keep customer communications private and minimal.

HANDLING IT: Accept that they already are. Jump in.

It might be easy to believe otherwise when you’re safely ensconsed in the corporate office, but if your brand is established then those nasty conversations are already happening. Take a deep breath and set up some Google Alerts or Tweetscans to see for yourself.

This might feel terrifying, but at least the choice is then clear: if you’re joining in the conversation, you can claw back some credibility. If you don’t, you come across as uncaring or out of touch.

Gas Pedal have some excellent tips on how to handle negative word of mouth which are well worth reading about. But most of all: remember that the vast majority of the people who complain will respond incredibly well to an honest, well-timed response. It could even prove to be a great way of creating a few loyal fans.

Flash Mob Pillow Fight 7 by Swansea Photographer (cc)

FEAR: It might tarnish the professional image.

Part of the ethos of ‘joining in the conversation‘ is that you can’t use the marketing speak you used to rely on. You need to let people in your company talk naturally to other people, in that fear-inducing uncontrolled way that humans are inclined to be.

For a company that’s used to having all marketing messages signed off by 8 different operational heads, this is a whole heap of control to relinquish.

Then there are all those stories where employees make news for being nasty about their firm or customers – or simply for projecting a less than professional image under the company’s name.

HANDLING IT: Practice being human. And relax.

Recruit some interesting and socially adept staff. Or move those with the best interpersonal skills to the ‘front line’.

If you feel you need to, draw up some guidelines on how staff should behave when they’re talking  in the public domain – but essentially you need to trust those people to represent your brand. If you come up with a script, you’ve missed the point.

Let them start by listening. Only once they understand a bit about the people and culture should they start to slowly build credibility by adding their own, relevant and devastatingly charismatic input. Ideally.

Still worried? Watch  how the best businesses do it. W00t understand this inside out. Zappos employees rule Twitter. Innocent is practically a tribe.

More on this soon. In the meantime, let us know how your company’s conversing.