If you have customers, you need a plan for dealing with 'blog storms'

Not that either of us solved anything, but ...

PR blogger Eric Schwartzman, writing on Spinfluencer, came to the same conclusion I did yesterday -- that it's difficult to tell if social media "outbursts" have any meaningful impact.

While it may be interesting to watch or hear a customer service failure, is it really changing public perception of a company that most likely has a bad reputation for service anyway?

Of course, it certainly isn't helping. And for companies that take service seriously, it can be a big blow to employee morale and customer confidence if something goes wrong and the whole world learns about it.

So there are lessons to be learned.

First, you need an organizational plan for how you'll respond to customer complaints that quickly gain massive exposure -- "blog storms," as Eric calls them.

That plan should start with regular monitoring of social media. If you're not doing so already, you should be (call us here at Wagner Communications and we'll help).

Second, if your company is "outed" by an angry customer, don't overreact. Firing people makes you look ruthless, and attacking the attacker makes you look like a bully.

At the same time, it's critical that you don't ignore the issue, either. Use common sense in responding -- if it's someone just blowing off steam with a non-specific complaint, there's probably nothing you can do to change the outcome.

But if it's someone who has a specific, legitimate concern -- "I tried to cancel my account and couldn't" or "I bought this product and it doesn't work" -- then I recommend having someone with the authority to make things right contact the customer via e-mail or phone (if possible).

That someone shouldn't be a PR person, as it will appear the company is simply trying to stifle the story rather than satisfy the customer.

PR's responsibility in these situations is to work behind the scenes with customer service to ensure that the issue is resolved properly -- and creatively, if need be. If the story has legs, your work will be making certain that the company's response is communicated properly -- and publicly apologizing, if necessary.

Ideally, your plan will also address using social media monitoring to identify customer service issues that need shoring up, and regular testing of customer contact points to make certain they are easy to use.

Thoughts?