Mele’s Musings

Feedback, even if it hurts

Brave companies are allowing customers to truly sound off.  Is this positive for a brand or potentially damaging?

picture: bankofamerica.com

Article excerpt:   More big companies inviting customers to sound off online. A Bank of America customer recently posted a scathing online review of the giant financial institution, giving it one star out of five. “I would never recommend this bank to anyone,” the critic said. “I had to pay over $120 in overdraft fees that should have not been there from the start.” But the review was not published on a blog or a consumer website. It was posted on the bank’s own site, Bankofamerica.com. “We felt that in the offline world customers communicate with other customers about our products and services, so why not allow them to do it in the online world?” said Tara Burke, a spokeswoman for the bank, which has 303 branches in Massachusetts, including 202 in Greater Boston. “We wanted other customers to learn from each other the good and the bad of our products and services.”
the rest: boston.com

Musing:  We all like to say that “the genie is out of the bottle” and that we can’t hide from bad customer feedback anymore.  But how many companies are really willing to embrace the truth from their consumers and, even more, let them share it broadly?  AARF’s own Amy Vickers, cited in this article, says it right: “Companies have to be open to the criticism, and they have to be authentic, and they need to be ready to respond,” Vickers said. “They can’t just do it because everyone else is doing it.”  “It really is a matter of acknowledging that the dialogue is already happening and deciding on whether or not you’re going to participate,” Vickers said. “You shouldn’t be looking to protect the brand image at the cost of communicating with your customers.”  I couldn’t have said it better myself.