1. Form a Communication Team
If you need to react quickly and competently to criticism, you require a clever communication team – project participants with technical expertise, marketing or PR specialists, and other colleagues who would back a fast response to upcoming topics. The communication team features excellent networking skills within the company and short decision-making channels.
2. Proactive Approach to Criticism
Rule number one is to stay up to date. Engage actively in conversations with your customers, and find out which topics concern them before any problems for your company can arise. Follow the topic all-IP migration on the media: What do telecommunication magazines and IT news tickers write about this topic? What is the response to the topic in social networks? From these observations it is easy to conclude which information your customers are lacking and what their concern is.
“The negative view on IP networks results from the personal experience of end-customers: updating the PC software, watching TV via a set-top box or telephoning via mobile – all IP-based applications which tend to suffer from connection issues. This experience from the area of private applications supports unjustified fears of a quality loss by a switch from TDM or rather leased line networks to IP-based solutions. Sometimes customers do not distinguish between business and residential applications,” reports Stefan Zesch, Key Account Manager at albis-elcon.
3. Avoid an Informational Gap
As soon as you identified a relevant topic, inform your customers thoroughly about it: Stay transparent and provide all important background information regarding the topic! What is the expansion plan of your company? Which hardware do you employ in order to avoid possible problems? If there is a problem, disclose who is affected and to what extent? What should the customer expect in particular? Is a solution on the way? Where can the customer receive the necessary support?
There must not arise an empty space for speculations, which can be occupied by another communicator to your disadvantage. Always demonstrate that you take the topic seriously and establish yourself as the first source of information.
Stefan Zesch explains further, why informational gaps are so common: “A number of network operators try to avoid involving business customers in the process of migrating and do not inform them about it. They fear to unsettle the business customers or to lose them in the worst case.”
4. Consider All Target Groups
Please do not forget that your customers are not the only ones who are affected by the discussion about all-IP migration. Your employees, business partners and investors have a legitimate interest in the development of your business. An early, self-confident, clear positioning on relevant topics offers security and orientation. Think carefully which stakeholders require which information and consider those stakeholders in your communication strategy.
5. Choose the Right Communication Channels
How do you deliver the message to the target group? Your company website is the first contact point for all stakeholders who are looking for information. In addition, you should inform your employees via the company intranet.
But the recipe for success includes more than that: Brief those employees about relevant questions who are in the communication frontline, such as receptionists or call centre employees. They should be prepared for all kinds of enquiries and have a sound knowledge of relevant internal processes. Also, consider that the classic media are not dead: Sending a personal letter still underlines your engagement and ensures you the sympathies of the recipient.
Conclusion
Your most precious asset, the trust of your customers, will only be preserved if you actively deal with criticism. Do not believe that your problems will resolve themselves. The tactics of denying or covering up have never paid off. Utilize the tips mentioned above to plan structured communication measures and to continue being successful.