CMOs beware! Word of mouth is everywhere. And online word of mouth such as blogs has opened the microphone up to anyone who wants to speak.

While our B2C counterparts are experiencing the early pains (and gains) of untamed word of mouth, we B2B marketers should not sit idly by-our turn will come. Let's look at one case-Volkswagen-to see what we can learn about managing what goes on in the land of blogs.

VW, like Dell before them, is being raked over the coals in the "blogosphere." If you're like me, you might be tempted to assume that the "blogosphere" is where kids go to play online. I assure you; that's not the case. The blogosphere is a growing - and very unchildlike - phenomenon; over 52% of bloggers are over the age of 30 (Pew Internet & American Life Project, "Data Memo: The State of Blogging." January 2005). If that number alone doesn't convince you that you need to pay attention, take a look at what CMO Magazine had to say about the VW debacle.

Think about it. What would you do if one of your customers started blogging about the poor quality of your company's enterprise software or about the failures of its hardware product? Here's our advice:

1. First, don't wait for it to happen; plan for your "raking" now. Regardless of whether or not you intend to actively leverage word of mouth on the Internet, you still need a contingency plan for what you'll do if someone starts an offensive against you.
2. In the old world, you controlled the message through your PR department and advertising agency. In the new world, you don't have that luxury. Yes, your message is still out there, but so are messages from who-knows-how-many other sources. If you want the primary message to be that your company provides quality products, solutions and services, then, quite simply, your company had better provide quality products, solutions and services. Conduct a customer perception audit to learn what people are saying, and take their feedback seriously. Don't file it away somewhere. Act on it.
3. Open and keep good channels of communication with your customers. After all, the VW thing started because people who wanted to be heard were ignored. What has caught on is less about the original issues and more about company reactions to vocal, unhappy customers.
4. If it's too late and you're already under attack? Engage in an honest, open dialogue. If your product or service has problems, be willing to talk about them. Use the opportunity to demonstrate what kind of company you are and the type of relationship you want to have with your customers. After all, wouldn't you rather engage in a discussion about what's wrong and your plans to fix it than to just sit back quietly while others blast you, hoping they'll go away or that your lawyers will squash the noise (VW, are you out there?).
5. And for an example of a company effectively participating in online word of mouth, check out General Motors.

Regards,
Steven Nicks, Partner, The Phelon Group