Net-Mares: Letters from Cyberhell

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Wrote David Hary, "Given your miserable performance in recent months, the time and frustration that your customers endured, [charging for shipping] is a big mistake. You blew it and rather than apologize are boldly asking your customers, who already have financed the bulk of this fiasco, to continue funding your failed set-up distribution system!"

According to Leach, the shipping delay occurred because Polaris was being extra careful to vouchsafe the product: "We would get ready to ship, see another problem, and hold shipment until we had fixed it." As for the fee for shipping new disk sets: "We had already sent several disks free of charge and also had posted the fixes on CompuServe."

The parallels between Intel's situation and Polaris's are striking. Like Polaris, Intel infuriated users more by its handling of a mistake than by the mistake itself. The response by Intel's CEO Grove was also considered too little, too late; and Intel's cost-saving measure of offering replacements only for some units (similar to Polaris's refusal to mail a final corrected set of disks) was particularly badly received. Finally, the press played a major role in disseminating news about Intel's problem and customer discontent.

It doesn't have to be that way. When software vendor Symantec Corp., based in Cupertino, Calif. (1993 revenues: $200 million), discovered a bug that could cause data loss in an upgrade version of its popular Norton Utilities for the Macintosh (NUM) product, it used the BBSs to its advantage. Not only did the company immediately send out press releases describing the problem and asking people to refrain from using the software, it also posted notices on CompuServe and other popular BBSs.

After the bug was fixed -- in less than a week -- Symantec sent out notices announcing the fix and mailed new disk sets to every registered owner of the product as well as to all dealers and distributors. Symantec's fix, according to NUM product manager Elissa Murphy, was expensive ("We took a severe hit to the product's profitability"), but cost was never a major factor. "We saw it as our duty to our customers to prevent even the possibility of the problem's occurring." Murphy says that although some of her customers became nervous, there was very little flaming.

Finally, there are ways to use BBS information competitively that do not involve poaching or other questionable activities. Matt Trask, president of Communica, a small software-development company based in Bourne, Mass., responded to the unfolding Pentium furor not by flaming but by quickly harnessing his team to develop a software program, or patch, that users could easily install in their computers to counteract the problem. (The alternate solution was to remove the old chip and install a replacement -- a daunting task even for professionals.) Trask posted word of his fix on the Internet and also alerted the press. He received widespread national attention, including network television interviews.

Polaris is planning to release another version of PackRat. Leach is optimistic that it will help his company regain its former position as leader in the PIM category, though industry analysts are not as sanguine.

Polaris's debacle offers small businesses a glimpse into the likely future of customer relations. Traditionally, companies have been able to control the flow of information. No more. Customers now not only can get information from one another but also can band together to make sure their interests are protected. It doesn't take much imagination to picture an on-line-fueled national consumer boycott that catches fire literally overnight. Forewarned is forearmed.

Helen Roper is a freelance writer based in New York City.

DOUSING THE FLAMES

Here are some steps you can take if negative publicity about your company or products starts to spread on-line:

Act immediately. You may be able to prevent a few negative comments from escalating into a flamefest.

Involve top-level management. The situation is potentially critical: you want to develop a high-level strategy and ensure that all company representatives are speaking with the same voice.

Assume responsibility promptly for any errors you've made. Do everything you can to rectify those errors, and keep customers informed. If the problem is one of misinformation, keep posting the truth in as many places as possible until it sinks in.

Proactively involve the press. Work to spread your version of things as much as possible.

Hold your temper. No matter how provoking a flamer is, your company's response should always be courteous and professional.

Recognize that flaming is a symptom, not a cause. Companies usually don't get flamed without some reason. Taking good care of your customers is the best way to prevent flaming.

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