The turnaround: turning angry customers into brand loyalists

There’s an old marketing adage that says “customers are 10 times as likely to talk about negative experiences as positive interactions.” I learned this in my first semester at college. Yesterday, I witnessed two completely completely different approaches to how a company could resolve this unfortunate but realistic situation.

Here’s the full story.

Or, if you prefer, here are the highlights from two case studies:

• An MIT Startup is overcoming the suspicious population of a new market by implementing a technology that validates performance and improves usability. Bottom line? They know they have to earn trust.
• Meanwhile, ”MyStarbucksidea.com” fails to live up to its potential. Why?

The key question is: “What company in their right mind would want to post negative feedback about their products or services?”

My take: Every company should allow negative feedback on their public sites because it presents the best opportunity they will ever get for a turnaround.

The expanded version explains how, and reminds you that “It is much less expensive to keep our existing customers than it is to win new ones.”