Dell is not exactly known as the best example of how to manage your online reputation, so I suppose it should come as no surprise to hear they've messed things up once again. On the other hand, it's a bit refreshing to hear that this time around, they realized their error and reversed course fairly quickly. There are a few lessons to be learned here by smaller companies. First, don't screw up. Second, if you do, admit it and fix it quickly.
What caused all the fuss?
A post at The Consumerist from a former Dell Rep that offered up 22 tidbits of information designed to help consumers get a better deal from Dell.
I am a former Spherion rep that later became a Dell Branded Rep (manager) of a Dell kiosk in the Philadelphia, PA region. To work at one is to work at all, and I worked at four different kiosks in the region. I worked from July 2005 until October 2006, but keep regular contact with some of the guys I trained and brought up. Other than the usual complaints, I have no problem with the company.
It went on to offer suggestions like:
4. Extended warranty for desktops - There is nothing in a low end desktop (non XPS) that is worth the price of the warranty should you have to replace it. Only pick it up if you have absolutely no clue what you're doing once the case is open.
and
5. Dell's internal fiscal calendar is different from other corporations. As their fiscal year ends in January or February (I honestly don't remember), the best deals will typically be found in late January and all of February. Also, buying during the last week of any quarter typically means free or deeply-discounted 2nd day or overnight shipping, and the quickest order turnaround. There are no steep discounts for the holidays, though they will run a few weeks of consecutive percentage off promotions during the back to school season in August.
Sounds like the type of information that might drive the sale of more Dell's (albeit at lower prices) right?
Well, Dell didn't view it as a good thing. In fact, they shot off an email to the owner of The Consumerist asking him to remove the post and claiming that it contained "information that is confidential and proprietary to Dell."
You can imagine how well that went over.
Things started buzzing, the blog post started getting even more visits and Dell started getting even more criticisms. In fact, you could say that Dell seemed to have completely missed out on the valuable lessons that Jeff Jarvis has tried to teach them.
Interestingly, once Dell realized the error of their ways, they went ahead and posted a mea culpa on their own blog (though they failed to have any further contact with The Consumerist.)
Now's not the time to mince words, so let me just say it... we blew it.
I'm referring to a recent blog post from an ex-Dell kiosk employee that received more attention after the Consumerist blogged about it, and even more still after we asked them to remove it.
In this case, I agree with what Jeff Jarvis had to say: instead of trying to control information that was made public, we should have simply corrected anything that was inaccurate. We didn't do that, and now we're paying for it.
They went on to offer up 23 "confessions" of their own. Some of those confessions featured some good tips on making purchases, others were nothing more than marketing hype. Either way, it helped diffuse the firestorm.
Well, at least they're starting to understand the concepts of online reputation management. Now if they could just start thinking about and utilizing these lessons BEFORE they start tasting foot.
Personally, I like Mack Collier's analysis of the situation:
When the smoke clears, I think this is another fine example of how companies and their customers often speak two different languages. Dell no doubt thought that it was in their best interest to attempt to convince The Consumerist to remove the 'confessions' post. However, almost anyone that read The Consumerist knew immediately that this was a bad move. And I noted that the tone of the comments to The Consumerist' post this morning were more in support of Dell's move to admit their blunder.
And I even get the impression that there may be more than one conversation happening within Dell itself. In fact if you read the emails from Dell that The Consumerist posted, then read Lionel's mea culpa at Direct2Dell, it's obvious that he feels sending the takedown request was a mistake.
So how does this impact you?
Well, the valuable take away point from all this is to stop trying to CONTROL the conversation and to learn how to play off of it. Realize that the rules of the game have changed and that public relations is now more about responding to the conversation than squelching it.
Ask yourself how something is going to impact your business and think carefully about the best way to respond.
I think if Dell had honestly taken the time to consider the pros and cons of this post at The Consumerist, they may have realized that yes, it could result in people getting better deals on Dell, but hey...that likely means that MORE people will buy Dell.
Is that really a bad thing?
If so, it it a bad enough thing to warrant the public relations nightmare that can arise from heavy handed lawyer tactics?
Probably not.
So keep an eye out for what people say about you, but learn to look at the big picture. Understand that you can't control the conversation and start polishing your skills at managing it instead.
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