What can companies do about a disgruntled consumer, especially in today's internet age? The managing director of a major, worldwide luxury goods purveyor recently bemoaned the power of a single customer, and even called it "consumer terrorism". To deal with this, her directive to her store managers was to go overboard to please, even when unreasonable. That's certainly one way to pre-empt negatives.
Miriam Lahage, CEO of Koodos.com, an online fashion site that "sells stylish clothes at smart prices" commissioned an ongoing survey of individuals who made recent purchases on the site. All reviews, both negative and positive, are posted. She claims that the approach works well, as the negatives give credibility to the site and a chance to fix the problems, turning a disgruntled customer into a long term friend. "Final impressions are lasting ones," she said at a recent Luxury Briefing conference in London.
What about handling this approach for the hotel industry? A hotel's version of Trip Advisor? A client recently told me that they're going to be posting Trip Advisor comments in an ongoing feed to the website. They feel that their reviews are almost all positive so there's no downside. And if there is a negative, they'll simply address it. I would appreciate hearing your comments.
