Apologise first to tackle digital mob attack

I just looked at the ratings on the Android store for WhatsApp and I saw hundreds of one stars. The overall rating had already come down from a high of 4.7 down to 4 and will potentially drop even further if the onslaught continues. 

It is interesting to note that all the recent reviews have nothing to do with the features or about the app. Everything is about its CEO and the insensitive comments. The even sadder fact is that this quote could have been taken out of context. Another report says that this was said way back in 2015. But the damage continues to happen.

Closer home, the TripAdvisor ratings for the Golden Bay Resorts had dropped from near perfect 5 to a low of 2.9. All of this for no fault of theirs. It all happened when the AIADMK MLAs were holed up at the Resort for a few weeks. The public have found a way to show the displeasure by going on TripAdvisor and downgrad

ing the rating. 

Both Snapchat and Golden Bay Resorts will start feeling the impact of this for a long time to come. In a few weeks, people will forget these incidents and life will go on. But the downgraded ratings will continue to hurt them.

TripAdvisor is an important social network for the travel and hospitality industry. For them, TripAdvisor is more important than Facebook or LinkedIn because this is what potential customers look at when making their decision to book a resort. TripAdvisor buries resorts with poor ratings and pushes resorts to the top which has higher ratings. This is where Golden Bay Resorts will feel the pinch in the long term because it affects the bookings and consequently commerce. 

The solution for problems like these is reacting quickly and addressing the problem. The best response is to apologise. Most companies make the mistake of defending their point of view. This only adds fuel to the fire. Even if it’s not their fault, quickly spouse. The second is to communicate often and inform what the corrective actions are and how will they be implemented. People are understanding and become quiet when the brands apologise. The best way to do that is on the official website, blogs and social networking sites. This is also another important reason why brands should be active on digital medium.