John Moore of Brand Autopsy posted a great article by Rick Nobles called Congratulations - Someone Hates Your Brand!
A few excerpts:
"Having someone hate you lets you know you're doing a good job of branding."
"When you put a stake in the ground and say 'this is who I am,' you are also saying 'this is who I'm not.' Identity is all about creating parameters, drawing lines among the wealth of possible attributes out there, shaping what your brand values and what it doesn't. So when you get a hostile member of society that takes time out of his busy day to let you know about it, be glad—you're conveying a definite sense of brand self."
"Here's the deal: If your brand is clearly defined enough to have the power to attract enemies, it also has the power to attract raving fans. And the raving fans of your brand are the ones who return again and again. They're the ones who will tell their friends about you. They're the ones who will wear your logo. They're the ones that almost enjoy the annoyance of your brand-haters and will keep coming back for more."
The reason this article caught my attention is because I've received a lot of hate mail in the past six years. For those of you who remember the old days of The Guestbook, you've probably shared a good laugh with me while reading some of those letters.
But I guess I never understood why someone would send hate mail to a guy wearing a nametag to make the world friendlier. Doesn't seem logical. But then again, to some people, wearing a nametag 24-7 doesn't seem logical either! Interestingly enough, the word hate mail IS in the dictionary. It means "correspondence that expresses the sender's animosity, disapproval, or prejudice, often in offensive language." Here's some of my favorite hate mail letters from over the years:
"I don't get it. So you wear a nametag for attention? You must be an only child. Props for making money off something so dumb."
"Pathetic. That is the only word I can think of to describe you and your idea."
"You are nuttier than a bag of trail mix!"
Oh well. Guess you can't make everybody happy. Still, I think Peter Montoya said it best in The Brand Called You: "If everybody likes your brand, you're doing something wrong."
Which reminds me, I've always wanted to write an article called "How to Turn Hate Mail into Great Mail." I'd love to hear your stories, ideas and lessons learned to be used in an upcoming column.
LET ME ASK YA THIS...
How do you turn hate mail into great mail?
* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That guy with the nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com
5 comments:
One idea would be to be use it as a motivator. Use it as much as you can as a tool to learn from. You never know when one of the haters really is just giving some extremely blunt consrtuctive criticism.
I also tell myself that hate mail are people just jealous of me and my idea, or in your case Scott, you and your nametag. I bet that your haters are very unapproachable people. Ha ha.
The irony! Take care.
Scott,
The first step toward turning HateMail into GreatMail is to recognize when someone is hating something you are DOING WRONG! As Patrick said, it could be constructive criticism for some aspect of your business that needs to change.
The second step would be to see if there is something (or someone) on the other end of the spectrum from your "Hater". If there is, then you know that you have a polarized audience, which is actually a good thing. If you don't get the balance, return to step 1 and ask yourself what you might be missing.
Good question... hope these thoughts helped.
Dave Wheeler
Founder, www.NoteWordy.com
Blog: www.theshot92.blogspot.com
Some of the fiercest supporters of companies I have ever seen used to be their strongest opponents ... until the company accepted the challenge of their hate mail and went the extra mile to turn them around.
Obviously, if someone just says "You suck!" your options are limited. But if there's something specific they say they don't like, it's an opportunity to show just how good your customer service really is. Even if you can't give them what you want, you can explain the reasons behind the policy, and in many cases that's really all they want.
Great topic, Scott. I hope you get lots of replies.
From my experience most criticism that is sent is actually constructive. Maybe not always on the surface. But someone saw something that made him frustrated -- which only means that he was wishing to achieve something he was hoping you could provide.
I mean I don't go to a restaurant after having had dinner at home and then complain to the waitress, "I'm not even hungry, your restaurant is useless to me!" The only time I would complain is when I am hungry, and when I actually love the food at that place most of the time, and when at one time it's not as great as before.
Usually, even criticism that's voiced in a rude tone is constructive if you do a little digging.
Dear Scott, thanks for another super article, i just love this site, thanks for the hard work.
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