Because apparently, customers have opinions, and now they have Wi-Fi.
There was a time when businesses had rather more control over their reputation.
You created the advertising. You wrote the brochure. You chose the photographs of suspiciously happy people shaking hands in meeting rooms.
Then you told everyone how wonderful you were.
Today, things are slightly different.
Your customers are also telling people what your business is like, and, rather inconveniently, people tend to believe them.
Your Brand Has Escaped the Marketing Department
Customers talk.
They leave reviews. Recommend businesses to colleagues. Post on social media. Mention you in WhatsApp groups. Tell someone over coffee about the company that was unexpectedly brilliant or spectacularly useless.
Every interaction gives them material.
The phone call that was answered quickly.
The delivery that arrived exactly when promised.
The problem somebody solved without transferring them through six departments and eventually to Keith, who appears to exist only between 2:00 and 3:15 on alternate Thursdays.
These experiences become stories and stories become reputation.
As I explore in Episode 14 of The Overthinker’s Guide to Modern Marketing, every customer now effectively has a microphone. Reviews, recommendations and everyday conversations can carry your reputation considerably further than the advertising you paid for.
The Awkward Gap Between What You Say and What They Say
Your marketing might say: “We put customers at the heart of everything we do.”
Your customer might say: “They haven’t replied to my email for nine days.”
Guess which version their friends are more likely to believe.
Advertising creates expectations. Customer experience provides the evidence.
That’s why your brand isn’t simply what you publish.
It’s what people conclude after dealing with you.
Listen Before You Broadcast
Businesses spend enormous amounts of time asking: What should we say about ourselves?
Perhaps occasionally we should ask: What are customers already saying about us?
Read the reviews. Listen to customer conversations. Ask why people recommend you. Find out what frustrates them.
You may discover your strongest marketing message is something customers already value.
You may also discover Keith needs to work Fridays.
Either way, it’s useful information.
Give Them Something Good to Say
If you’d like to explore this further, listen to Episode 14: Customer Experience Is the New Advertising: Why Your Customers Have Become Your Marketing Department.
Because your customers are already talking about your brand.
The question isn’t whether they’re talking. It’s whether you like what they’re saying.
