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September 05, 2008
Customer vigilantes take it to the streets
Zane shares an example of how far customer vigilantes will go to spread bad word of mouth about a company that refuses to resolve a problem.
He took this picture near his home in Iowa. He passes the sign every day, which reminds him to not hire the company in question.
Today, what starts as a local issue can blossom into a PR nightmare via Google and its voracious feeder system, social media.
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I remember someone doing the same thing back in the early 90's in Phoenix. He had put vinyl letters on his mini-van about terrible service with an auto repairman. I saw that car about once a week the entire time I lived there. It must have been a horrid experience or someone holds a serious grudge.
Absolutely! One of my favorite sites is Consumerist. With that site -- where everyday people share their customer service horror stories, and other related tales -- all the big players have to watch out now. They make one false move, and the world finds out!
Jackie, that is great. Something I would do for sure.
Great example! Hey, more people are apt to spread the word about a bad experience than a good so it's always in your best interest to create the opportunity for positive WOM.
Word of mouth is by far the most potent form of marketing. This is why you must treat all of your customers with the greatest respect no matter who it is. If you piss them off, you are not only turning them away, but you are also losing everyone they know as a potential customer. Hope you enjoyed my comment. I also love to help people out, so if you have any questions about anything, or need some advice, you can follow me @Garbarrassing on Twitter.
We are no longer living in the information age but the "Recommendation Age" Customers will see the sign, and another 68% of the customer base will find negative comments ONLINE.
It goes to show you that the only real opinion that matters in business is the CUSTOMER's
Life is social. Social "media" is not a channel, it's a dynamic. I've been hoping that the best practices of the digital social media world would filter down to the local level. Great example. Let's hope the construction company knows this is happening, and that this impacts the way they do business moving forward.
Right on. What an effective way to take out the frustration while saving others from getting ripped off by this business.
Businesses need to realize 1. unhappy customers will badmouth them, and 2. this can have a significant impact on their business. The barriers to filing a complaint about a business are no longer there in the world of social media. No longer do we need to write to BBB or go thorough the complicated paper work of filing a report. All we need to do is use social media to spread the word about the business: good or bad.
Check out an app named 'bizfind' on Facebook. Probably one of the easiest way to give your opinion about a business to your friends, or receive theirs.
Excellent example of how not to piss customers off! It will affect your reputation as an individual or a company!
This is a bad publicity for the contractor... Better solve this problem or else he will his career.
