Given customers are finding new avenues through Social Media to express their opinions about products/services they use, brands no more have an option to not listen to those conversations. That's where the concept of ORM (Online Reputation Management) comes in. In this story by Inc magazine, Social Media leaders share their views on the importance of ORM (Online Reputation Management) and how can brands leverage ORM.

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STRATEGY
All Ears It's time to 'listen' to
your customers online.
Social
Networking
Are you
listening hard
enough?
Monitoring
your online
reputation
“Rechargeitnow.com is cheating people...they are a
bunch of crooks!” �at was a customer venting his
ire on iComplaints, an online grievance forum. His
gripe, targeted at the provider of an online payment
service, involved a top-up that he was charged for,
but which never made it to his account.
Given that the contact details of the company
were not listed on its website, the frustrated con-
sumer had no option but to use the only channel
available to him—an online forum. �ankfully,
the RechargeitNow team responded quickly to his
complaint, providing a number for the consumer to call, and man- �nds its way to the internet—and, to prospective buyers. �erefore,
aged to salvage its reputation. it’s imperative for a company to track its reputation online.
�is was but one of the many instances in which a customer “By listening and responding, a brand can take responsibility
resorted to an online portal to seek justice. Social networking sites, for bad service, and leverage great feedback to build credibility.
such as Flickr, Facebook and Twitter, have added new channels of �is, in turn, helps generate more visibility, leads and sales,” says
communication between a brand and its consumers. �ey’re cheap Pradeep Chopra, co-founder and CEO, Digital Vidya, a digital
and accessible, and the level of interactivity ensures that others are marketing training company.
quick to pick up on a thread, thereby making the brand highly visi- Called online reputation management, or ORM, this involves
ble. �e empowered consumer now makes sure that a grievance keeping track of what’s being said about you in the virtual world,
ILLUSTRATION BY PC ANOOP DECEMBER 2010 | INC. | 59

2. STRATEGY
and responding to queries, grievances and opinions. And it isn’t “Paid tools are useful when the amount of conversation is huge.
just about a response. “�e key lies in responding in time and One needs sophisticated, analytical platforms that can be used by
appropriately,” adds Chopra. team members in collaboration,” explains Chopra. �at’s where
Ask Ajaay Gupta, CEO and managing director, Capital Foods, so�ware, such as VeristLabs and Informm, come in. �ey provide
which sells the Ching’s Secret brand of Chinese ingredients. “A regu- what can be called “listening on the net” services—trawling the
lar consumer from the US pinged us on our Facebook, mentioning internet and collecting content that matches the keywords. �e
that the product was not available in a particular store. Ten minutes data is analysed before being presented to the company.
later, we had contacted her. Within two hours, the sales head had For those who aren’t happy with merely collecting data, there
alerted the distributor in California, who delivered the product to are extra services o�ered by portals such as VeristLabs. It can man-
her house,” relates Gupta. Such is the power of the internet. age online conversations, queries, or complaints, and even post
Having decided to monitor its reputation online, where does a entries on blogs to promote one’s brand or product—all for a fee.
company start? Using Google Alerts is the basic way of keeping “�e bene�t of directing customers to a common site is that
track of what’s being said about you. All you need to do is select complaints and grievances do not spread all over the web. It
keywords that need to be tracked, and you will receive an email becomes easier for a �rm to monitor complaints,” says Arjun
update every time it appears on the web. Other options include Anand, creator of VeristLabs.
Lithium, SocialOomph and Social Mention, or tools, such as ValuePitch, too, works in a similar fashion. It shares quantitative
TweetDeck, Sendible and Seesmic, that can be used to keep track (graphs, charts, etc.) as well as qualitative feedback (customer happi-
of what netizens think about your company. ness, dissatisfaction, and so on) . It not only manages reputation, but
also senses the pulse of the market.
It is commonly accepted that fast mov-
ing consumer goods companies are sepa-
Where should you look? rated from the end consumers by �ve to six
layers. �is includes stockists, distributors,
The internet is the new encyclopaedia. No matter what you seek, you shall
definitely find it online. Now, thanks to social networking sites, micro- sub-distributors, retailers and media.
blogs and such other information sharing platforms, people can find “�rough social media, we have cut across
information about new products and services, experiences with brands, and reached out to our consumers directly.
and so on. Companies, therefore, need to keep an eye on what’s being We track popular �avours that can be
said about them. While checking out Facebook, Twitter and Flickr is obvi- launched, thereby transferring the owner-
ous, you have to widen the net. Here are a few sites that will help you keep
an eye on your brands. ship to end consumers,” adds Gupta, who
runs the 300-crore Capital Foods.
MouthShut: A review site for any- Answers, Answer Bag, and many �at’s not applicable to every company,
thing and everything under the sky. other such sites. though. “ORM is more useful for an estab-
Customers share their experiences lished brand with a secure market. For a
with a particular product, or ser- LinkedIn: Largest professional young company, which is still �nding its
vice—everything from cars to networking site in the world. Helps
niche, it may be a futile e�ort,” explains
books. you keep track of what people are
saying about either the company’s Praval Singh, co-founder, Media Rede-
Epinions: It is an online customer profile or the person heading it. �ned, a social media agency.
review platform. People share their Many B2B businesses, too, do not con-
feedback on varied things—from Xing: Another professional net- sider ORM as a feasible option, since they
electronics to tourist guides. working site, which helps people to
do not deal with customers directly. But
either make new contacts or follow
ConsumerComplaints: Many con- the trail of colleagues and experts. companies, which have a widespread cus-
sumers express their unhappiness tomer base, should monitor their reputa-
on such sites. Other sites include Social Mention: A search and anal- tion online. It also makes sense for internet
ConsumerCourtForum and Com- ysis platform. It collates all infor- businesses to deploy resources for online
plaintsBoard, among others. mation about a company, person or
monitoring. Companies that have a rela-
a product, from across the internet
YouTube: World’s largest video and streams it to a common plat- tively urban or semi-urban market in India
publishing and sharing network form. should also give ORM a shot.
operating round the clock. With this single tool, one can under-
Burrp: People share reviews on stand customer needs and buying habits,
Q&A sites: Question and answer myriad subjects—restaurants,
and keep an eye on the competition. Go
sites reflect on consumer buying gyms, movies—almost everything
trends and give ideas for prospec- that a customer may have used or on, plug into the virtual world and �nd out
tive products and services. Yahoo experienced. who’s saying what about you.
Answers, Answers.com, Wiki —Sunaina Sehgal
60 | INC. | DECEMBER 2010