Social media has completely changed the internet from few closed web pages to an orchestra with large number of musicians playing in amplified voices. Social media is an important tool for businesses that allows them to connect, interact, engage and establish trust with the existing customer base plus the prospective clients. In the era of consumer driven marketing we may call word of mouth as the best form of marketing, but we should never lose sight of the fact it is also the worst form of marketing. Connecting and engaging with customers is a great way to present the humanitarian side of the organization and generating trust. But the devastation starts when something goes awry and negative responses starts flooding in. While some might consider it as devastation others might see it as a great opportunity to provide real feedback and resolution. While social media may provide spark to the complaint boxes, responding timely to the complaints can showcase company’s strong commitment towards customer satisfaction and excellence.

There are different ways organizations plan to respond to critical negative feedback, however using the right strategy at the right point of time can do wonders to the image of the organization. On a survey carried out in the hospitality industry it was found that out of the customers who posted a negative feedback; 33% turned around and posted a positive one after a response from the organization and 34 % deleted their original negative remarks.

An ignored customer always gives way to an ignored company. While many managers feel that Head in the Sand approach is the right way to tackle criticism, however neglecting negative feedback never resolves the issues rather poses an image that the organization is not concerned about its customers and their values.

Pressing a “DEL” on a customer feedback, might invoke a counter “Shift+DEL” from the customer towards the companies. Deleting a customer feedback might hide it but it only heightens the anger that the customer has against the organization. It is important for organizations to access what is to be deleted and what is to be not. While popular networking sites have wider reach and heavy traffic so nothing goes unseen; an ignorant attitude on such platforms might cause an exponential increase in the negative responses. Company should have always maintain a proper plan of action; responding to every piece of feedback on the internet might not be the best solution, so organizations would properly access what needs a reply and what can be ignored.

Social media represents a real and legitimate customer, one that has raised real concerns based on hardcore realities. The platforms of service might have changed but customer service stills remains as the core nucleus of marketing may it are over a telephone, over a desk or a social media website. Always remember customer is always right- no matter how wrong he is! Be sure to empathise, apologise and offer a resolution.

Apology and a solution; “I apologise for the inconvenience and we will make sure to correct the things immediately. Brands sometimes forget that handling complaints over the internet is more or less similar to handling complaints from an individual over the desk. This approach helps turn a dissatisfied customer into a brand evangelist. An individual who buys a company’s product, connects with the organization on the social networking front is surely the one loyal to the brand. A loyal customer would always want the organization to respect the customer’s needs and emotions. Effective grievance handling procedures provide great word of mouth publicity for the organization presenting its humanitarian side and customer value.

It looks like a box, takes a fixed position in the living room and has the power to hold individuals for enormously long period of times. A box that can completely turn upside down think tank, change perceptions and turn positives to negatives; television nowadays has the ability to make individuals looking west look east.  The spectrum of Indian television is wide and fast growing; from the mega starrer movie channels, to the harmony of saints of god, to the generation X love and spice shows and last but by no means the least the reality shows which have a big question mark always hanging on their reality part. But one thing that has been rock solid and growing exponentially is the Indian comedy industry. From times of jaspal bhatti’s incisive wit in the flop show, to the era of 5^th floor cuff parade of sarabhai’s and now the diverse multi-lingual comedy soaps of SAB TV. The Indian media market has never been short of its share of comedy.  The television industry has cut trough social, economic and religious lines and now is a common denominator.

 The last decade of Indian television has seen some of the very famous comedy shows that went on-air. While the oldies like sarabhai vs. sarabhai or shriman shrimati have their own remembrance the new shows have created an intense new market for themselves. The stand up comedy which was really not much into liking of the Indian society has now become the dinner time sweet without which the dinner almost feels incomplete. Those stand-up comedians who barely got a gig on the television now have weekly running soaps with TRP’s increasing quicker than the dollar price. While channels like SAB branding themselves as an all comedy channel we can be rest assured that comedy in Indian television media is not stopping. Different viewers have different reasons for their thrust towards these comedy shows. The basic silver lining is the aam aadmi is relating himself easily to these kinds of shows rather than the INR 29 figure of poverty line of the government. Whether we talk about the days of Taarak Mehta acting like a true Indian bride, or the babuji of the chidiya ghar with his true gandhigiri the comedy connection is running big guns. The society which used to see themselves in the kahani or kyunki of kapoors has started relating themselves to the daya or bakula of sab TV. With a confirmed happy ending always, the fear of failure is completely wiped out from the minds of the individuals and the audience prefers the linkage. While the kyunki of Kapoor’s had all the masala spices to induce a negative rani laxmi bai in all the married females, flip side the laughter of adhikari brothers has got the orthodox solution to almost all the major family problems. With less popular or almost new characters and little or no past media rumors about the character; the character image becomes more like one from the public. The sense of humour in country has changed. From the days of slapstick humour we have changed to an era where people have started laughing on themselves. The liking of comedian like Russel petters has grown and we are becoming more or less ready for the silent or the observational comedy. The same skewness towards comedy can be observed on other medias also. With the dismal economy condition Mrs. Gandhi and Mr. Singh have become the undisputed cartoon characters for the media. Comedy which used to cover a side block in the middle section of the newspaper can find itself some space in the front page also.

The great words of Sir Lewis black “It’s absolutely stupid that we live without an ozone layer. We have men, we’ve got rockets, and we’ve got saran wrap – FIX IT!!!”  

Leadership is putting your plan of actions into the right direction and encouraging others to implement those actions with zeal and vigour. It is nothing more than convincing someone to do a task with a feeling of involvement rather than a burden. If the 10 letter word was as simple as that, what could have been the reason of public failures of leadership in almost all fields? You name it politics, sports, science even the Holy Guru’s also which some of the general Indian public seems to believe more than anything else in this world; there has been a complete downfall in almost all industries.  Here I present few of the pitfalls which if not corrected can lead to the downfall of a leader exponentially.

  Vision: if there is anything that brings the leader to the top is the vision he had once. A clear, passionate, straightforward yet vivacious vision should be clear in the mind of the leader. If   the vision loses its clinch of a laser you might see a disappearing leader. A dedicated leader with a clear path can think of defeating the obstacles, however If a leader cannot code or decode the vision with clarity, the leadership skills are in the shades of gray. A leader as a top notch individual should have confidence in his abilities.

 Communication: having a vision will be of no use in case a leader cannot transfer the vision to the people. A leader who can transfer “what he meant” to the followers with a clear motive can expect the people to sense the goals; it removes the misunderstanding and ambiguity part from all the tasks and conversations. Communication is of great importance if a leader is to drive people towards the goal and get the tasks accomplished.

People are not Resources: The biggest misconception with today’s business freak world is the interchangeable use of the word people and exchangeable item.  The biggest quality a leader can have in him is seeing people like a valuable resource rather than interchangeable piece of machinery.  A leader is always the one who focuses on strengths of others rather than their weaknesses. A leader who imbalances the importance of the path to be followed with the result that is the time a leader can expect to be running a one man army.

An individual who cannot manage himself can never manage others.  If there is ever a task of prime importance in the career of leader it is self management. A leader who leads a lot of people is always expected to be above all of the others. A leader, who cannot manage the hormonal balance of his DNA properly, will never present an image to convince others of success.

Leaders driven by fear of failures can never sound the bugle of success.

History will always remain a book of record and life will always be a free frolic like a feather.