Dell's Negative Word of Mouth

Word of mouth can be either positive or negative. When a company is mentioned negatively, it can also affect the company negatively. People may share their bad experiences with others. In addition, they may stop buying products from that company. Ed Keller and Brad Fay discuss negative word of mouth in Chapter 8 of The Face-to-Face Book.

In 2005, Dell suffered from negative word of mouth. Jeff Jarvis, a well-known blogger, explained the bad service he received from Dell about his "lemon," (p. 186) or bad computer. He blogged for a few weeks and was never satisfied about Dell's lack of a reaction. Finally, he wrote to Dell's Chief Marketing Officer and received a refund, which satisfied him. He selected to receive a refund because the company took so long to respond to his issue. While he was waiting for a response, he decided to buy an Apple computer.

Dell was not listening to what Jarvis wrote. At first, the company did not know that people were becoming unhappy with the company. The posts by Jarvis reached many people and the unhappiness with Dell skyrocketed. Other people began to share their negative experiences with the company. Eventually, when people searched "Dell Sucks" (p. 187) on Google, Jarvis's posts were ranked fifth. When Dell found out about the negative posts and the dissatisfaction, they were not impressed. The company had a focus on being direct with customers. This idea of being direct also applied to relationships with customers. If a customer had a problem, Dell wanted to fix it as soon as possible. This did not happen with Jarvis.

Jarvis did not want to continue his business with Dell. He went and bought a new computer from a different company. When people write about a bad experience, they want it fixed as soon as possible. They don't want to wait for days and weeks for a response from the company. If people have to wait, they will likely follow Jarvis's example and lose faith in the company. Also, they may decide to not buy anything else from the company.

It is very common for people to write negative reviews of a product or company. When a negative review is posted, it can be a catalyst for others to share their thoughts. Dell is one example on how a flood of negative word of mouth can hurt a company. It is also important for companies to keep track on what is being said about them. If a company does not do that, they may become unaware of negative feedback.