The word of mouth debate seems to focus almost exclusively (at least when ad agencies get involved) on how to get people talking positively about a brand (I've done it myself). But are a lot of businesses trying to run before they can walk?
Positive talk is great. But negative talk has the potential to work even more powerfully in the opposite direction: human nature being what it is (or maybe it’s just us Brits), we are often more likely to talk about bad experiences, and more likely to act on such negative recommendations. After all, it is easier NOT to buy something than it is to buy...particularly if you don’t buy it already.
Something to bear in mind, when you consider recent research which found that "negative WOM influences future patronage up to five times more than the person who experiences the problem first-hand" (not quite sure what that means, but it sounds bad!).
Other findings were that...
- 31% of consumers tell one or more friends about the problems they experience in a store.
- On average, consumers tell four other people about their negative shopping experience.
- Almost 50% of shoppers said they avoided a particular store in the past because of someone else's negative experience.
The sad fact is that for every half good positive new thing companies introduce (probably to see them ignored), most will have overlooked 10 bad things that are having a genuine detrimental effect on their businesses.
So sort out the problems first: it will have a bigger (positive) impact on the bottom line, and make the good things you do more effective.
