• by Tom Hespos , October 17, 2006

This past week, "20/20" ran a segment on how people are fighting back against poor customer service, heavily featuring the Gawker Media consumer advocate blog Consumerist. The piece included some of the customer service horror stories we've all come to know and loathe, such as the sleeping Comcast technician and the Herculean task of canceling an AOL account.

The story represented the other side of the coin as well, showcasing the flap over Apple's old iPod battery replacement policy and wondering whether the pendulum had swung too far in the customer's favor. Since Apple has now changed its policy, "20/20"'s John Stossel asked Consumerist's Ben Popken whether it was fair that search results still pointed to material that found fault with the old policy.

One important thing to remember about online dialogue on products and services is that it's not static and fixed. You'd be better served to think of it as a living, breathing organism that evolves over time. The democratization of search has brought with it the notion that any linked content can become more relevant than what's already out there, if enough people interact with and link to it. One important goal of customer service should be to consistently provide good service so that the gaffes are replaced by stories about proper treatment of customers over time.

Perhaps if Apple had refused to let the iPod battery issue linger as long as it did, we wouldn't have YouTube videos of people spray-painting their wild postings with a message about the problems with the iPod's battery.

One way to make things better: Monitor online conversations about your brand and proactively address problems that come up. Someone motivated enough to post their conversation with a customer service rep on a blog, message board or social network probably isn't doing it just to cause trouble. They're likely doing it because they believe they're being treated unfairly.

Blog and social media monitoring services can help here. Look to companies like Cymfony and Nielsen Buzzmetrics to help identify relevant conversations. They can help you develop a proactive stance toward customer service problems and turn potential problems into potential brand assets.