Customer Reviews

Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000: Running a Business in Today's Consumer-Driven World

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Credibility is the lifeblood of an organization, and Pete Blackshaw's six drivers of credibility should be indelibly etched onto the reverse of every CEO's business card. They are the essentials of brand and corporate trustworthiness and they are the foundation for Pete's new book, "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000"--absolute must reading for every one of those CEOs, every front-line/online company spokesperson and, for that matter, anyone within an organization that truly cares about nurturing perhaps the most valuable yet often elusive organizational asset.

Public affairs professionals will want to keep a copy within easy reach. (Mine now sits in front of my "Roget's Thesaurus.") Customer Relations and Consumer Affairs personnel should read it at once, then again, and--likewise--keep this easy to digest textbook at the ready as you go about talking to, emailing or--more likely--instant messaging internet-savvy customers and consumers.

Pete Blackshaw writes with the common sense clarity of a consumer, yet as readers we benefit from his well-honed expertise in social media and interactive marketing as well as his own well-earned credibility in the vast and potent online marketplace. Pete has written a fine and timely how-to-book on the art of relationship building in a business world being powerfully influenced by consumer-generated media.

I'll be honest - I didn't expect much from this book, published by Nielsen Online. I expected it to be a 200-page brochure for their Buzz Metrics monitoring practice.

But the book is surprisingly comprehensive and contains useful advice. They discuss practical applications of buzz tracking (private communities, blog post tracking, review site tracking) and even some free resources if you want to track buzz yourself. And they provide an informed discussion of the many ways people are posting comments online and practical advice for a company that wants to start engaging with these customers online and offline. I was prepared to dislike this book, but felt the authors presented the merits of online buzz tracking fairly, without over-inflating their importance (eg. Clueless Manifesto).

On the other hand, their BAM (Brand Association Map) appears like a scientific way to understand the conversations, but is unusually thin on useful and actionable intelligence. There are other books which cover most of the same information in a more helpful and insightful format. Groundswell (see my review) is the best of them.

So I take one point off for falling a bit short (and for using a quote from Seth Godin - the junk food of business book authors -- in their testimonials). But it's still a surprisingly good book for what could have easily turned into a self-serving brochure for Nielsen Media. Recommended reading.

One of the fascinating by-products of the internet age is how consumers have commandeered an increasing amount of power in the marketplace equation. If in the 1970s, the marketspace was where nobody could hear you scream, today the Blogosphere and the attendant media is a place where we can hear everything, and a compelling YouTube video (the dead mouse in the cereal packet)can become the retailer's worst nightmare. What do you say when your PR assistant tells you: "We're up to 2 million hits on the dead mouse. It seems to be gaining momentum."

In this environment, many corporates are woefully flat-footed, and use old solutions to band-aid the new problems. This won't work, and Blackshaw sets out exactly how bad things can get, what not to do in these situations and, mercifully, what SHOULD be done.

Readers should treat carefully the title of the book. It isn't always true that an unhappy customer tells anybody else. And even the old adage that an unhappy custoemr will tell 10 others (and they'll ten others etc) is simply not correct. If it were, then mathematically, many more businesses would be going out of business. But Blackshaw's arresting title does highlight the very real possibility that in today's highly connected and somewhat random world, even the smallest ideas or bad experiences can quickly catch alight and become a forest blaze. These things can happen.

In my own country, New Zealand, two high school students tested a well known British drink Ribena and found that despite the claimed content of Vitamin C, the drink contained almost none whatsoever. Ribena responded with a "no comment" and really handed the media a perfect storm. Charming school girls, a big bad corporate and a public already twitchy about health issues. Ribena are still putting out the fire.

Blackshaw's book is an important read for marketers and public affairs people. We read of the wonderful opportunities in the internet age, but we need to be mindful also of the explosive dangers of getting things wrong.

- A good read with: Anderson's updated Long Tail, The, Revised and Updated Edition: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.

- Here's nother excellent book, you may not yet have read. It makes a good twin-read with Angry Customers Tell 3000. Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. Walker covers the wider issues of marketing and how they have been transformed by the web - and he also deals with consumer backlash. His term for the murky and not-so-clear-cut new paradigm: Murketing.

Have no idea what took me so long to pick up this book, but now that I have I can't seem to put it down. I keep finding more useful information. All of the buzz words apply - insightful, easy-to-read, useful, on target, and so on. The six critical credibility drivers will be a part of every plan I do from here on out.

Pete Blackshaw coined the term "consumer-generated media" (CGM) to describe the tweets, Facebook updates, blogs, online comments, digital photos, YouTube videos, podcasts, and other media that customers around the world are using to share their business experiences with everyone else connected to the Web. In "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000" he warns that the rules of business-customer relationships have irreversibly changed. Whereas a single angry letter sent via snail mail could have been ignored, a single blog entry can now ignite a firestorm of furious comments that quickly blacken a company's reputation.

Here's what that means for your business:

1. Your customers are paying more attention to other customers than to your advertising. "The consumer is the new center of the universe [and] the cameras and microphones are always on and rolling." (pp. 8-9, 48)
2. At all levels, your business must be honest, authentic, transparent, open to feedback, responsive, and validated by your customers. Credibility is the best asset your business has.
3. Your customers' loyalty is not enough; you need their advocacy.

Based on this new reality, the book outlines a series of action steps that businesses can take to build their credibility and strategically incorporate CGM into their business plans.

As the title of the book suggests, angry customers are more likely to go online and share their frustration with others - especially when they don't feel they're being heard. The most important one-word piece of advice that Bradshaw would probably give is, "Listen."

Pete Blackshaw has nailed this one. It's so common sense, but that doesn't mean people will do it. I read this book on a flight from Detroit to Phoenix and couldn't wait to get to a place to make some notes and create a plan. This is a must read!

I was supremely impressed with this book. As a small business owner, after reading "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends - Angry Customers Tell 3000," I feel I have far more expertise in knowing how to ask for and deliver feedback and knowing how to get smart on the lifeblood of any business - the customers. Pete Blackshaw's advice on building a brand in the optimal way is enormously insightful. Plus, at the end of the day, isn't this how we all want to live? Authentically, responsibly, thoughtfully, transparently, and trustfully. I gave away twelve copies at Christmas and wish i had dozens more! The incredible feedback I have received on this gift AND the valuable feedback I have received since reading the book prompted this review... many thanks to the author for the killer learning.

When I was a brand management intern 20 years ago, I was given the responsibility of reviewing consumer complaints from the 800-line. Back then, this sort of project was given to the junior brand folks as a way to let them "cut their teeth" on brand-oriented work without messing up anything of strategic importance.

Thankfully, companies have come a long way in the importance they place on monitoring, analyzing, and reacting to customer/consumer feedback. Pete Blackshaw is a key pioneer in this movement. As the founder of Planet Feedback, he is a strategic thought leader who simply "gets it." This book is an insightful gift to anyone who wants to learn more about how to successfully leverage critically important customer feedback.

Todd Sebastian,
Best-selling author, Tell Your Clients Where to Go! A Practical Guide to Providing Passionate Client Leadership

In his book, Blackshaw offers left-brained insight into doing more than simply reacting to the power of word or mouth, the changing consumer and the quickly evolving social media landscape.

This book is designed to help marketers get what they've wanted all these years -- a better relationship with their customers. Pete Blackshaw's left brain approach to the fuzzy, "2.0 social realm" makes for a helpful read for anyone trying to connect social and metrics.

Finally an author who understands that a sale is only the beginning.

I am one of those fed up consumers who bitches. I have written, yelled, documented, threatened and cajoled.

Mr. Blackshaw shines a light on an obvious truth! How come it took so long! How come this is not required reading for every CEO who has lost touch!

If it were not for the internet, blogs and Pete Blackshaw, complaining would still be a very lonely business.

Thanks Pete Blackshaw