Dealing with a Problem

In chapter 10 of Real-time Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, he discussed the four key contact points where companies need to focus on creating or improving real-time connections with customers. These four points are presale, immediate postsale, ready to receive and problem solution and crisis communication. Throughout these four points it is important to think of the customer and their needs. It is also important to solve problems quickly and address the problem on the same media it originally started on.

An important aspect when dealing with a negative post or comment on social media is to take the post or comment offline. By taking it offline you are drawing the attention away from your company and dealing with the problem in a quick and efficient manner, internally. Also, the individual who posted the negative post will also be more likely to come back with a positive comment and talk about how the company fixed their problem in such a timely manner. Companies are also going to look better to other customers when they see positive posts about the companies taking action.

We also learned throughout the readings of chapter 11 and 12 that no one is immune to a crisis. As a company it's important to always have some sort of crisis plan in action for any
potential situation. As we discussed in class, you never know when a crisis will take place, so it's important to always be prepared. If a crisis emerges, it is important to have an assigned team ready with their contact information, quickly gather facts to plan an initial comment, don't ignore the situation and provide updates as needed.

Throughout these chapters we also talked about how a variety of companies are going mobile with a majority of their information. I currently receive 7 texts a week from different companies. These texts normally contain general sale information for the week or coupons for a specific amount off your total purchase. Many companies have adopted to this , as it is real-time because they know that most individuals always have their phones within arms length. Companies are not only learning how to engage with customers before a problem starts, but they are also learning how to deal with problems in a timely manner before the problem gets out of control.