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general meaning of the sentence

English translation: balancing financial self-interests with desire for good public image

15:34 Mar 11, 2017
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: general meaning of the sentence
Hello everyone,

Katy Keim is the chief marketing officer at Lithium, a software company that helps big brands find, organize, and respond to cus-tomer feedback. She describes the scenario this way: “One of the things I hear brands say is, ‘Some of these customers are just using a public forum to get a different outcome than what they’ve already been told.’ And it happens, in a case like, ‘I’ve been told my TV is out of warranty, I’ve called the call center, I checked with the warranty desk, everyone has told me I’m really sorry, and then I get on Twitter and I’m like, I can’t believe Manufacturer X won’t honor my warranty, and I try to get a different outcome.’ And so I think there’s going to be a rightsizing of how complaining is dealt with. ***I think brands are struggling to figure out what’s the productive response versus what they’re being shamed into because it’s a public forum.***”

Although I understand all words and phrases in the last sentence I still fail to understand what the sentence is trying to say. Yes, a customer can call a company and get a response he/she is not happy with. After that he/she can post his/her complaint on a public gorum and get a more satisfying response just because the dialogue is public. But from the sentence in question I still can't understand what exactly companies are struggling to do.

Thank you.
Mikhail Korolev
Local time: 11:21
Selected answer:balancing financial self-interests with desire for good public image
Explanation:
The companies are struggling to balance their own (financial) self-interests with the need to maintain a good public image.

In the example presented in your text, the warranty has expired, so the company doesn't feel the need to "honor" it. The answer is "I'm sorry - nothing we can do. The warranty has expired."

But when the customer brings the complaint to a public forum (even twisting the facts a little by implying the warranty is still valid), the company feels pressure to look good/generous to the public by "honoring" the warranty. They don't want to argue with the customer because it will make them look bad/stingy, so they just give the customer what he/she wants - even if it costs them a bit extra.

In some ways, this is good because it shows excellent customer service to the public, but it can also be bad if customers continuously game the system and manipulate companies into getting what they want even when it is not totally deserved. In the long run, this can lead to increased expenses for the company.
Selected response from:

Arabic & More
Jordan
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone.
Thank you, Amel.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3balancing financial self-interests with desire for good public image
Arabic & More
3 +3[see below]
Robert Forstag


  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
[see below]


Explanation:
A paraphrase of the final sentence:

The "brands" are trying to figure out a way to avoid a purely defensive reaction to being publicly shamed, and instead are trying to determine ways to respond that best defend their interests in the broadest possible sense.

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 04:21
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 40

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Mark Nathan: Companies need to figure out how to use forums in a positive way, i.e. boost their image and get more customers, rather than just being shamed into giving away free stuff.
12 mins
agree  Yasutomo Kanazawa
13 hrs
agree  acetran
2 days 2 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
balancing financial self-interests with desire for good public image


Explanation:
The companies are struggling to balance their own (financial) self-interests with the need to maintain a good public image.

In the example presented in your text, the warranty has expired, so the company doesn't feel the need to "honor" it. The answer is "I'm sorry - nothing we can do. The warranty has expired."

But when the customer brings the complaint to a public forum (even twisting the facts a little by implying the warranty is still valid), the company feels pressure to look good/generous to the public by "honoring" the warranty. They don't want to argue with the customer because it will make them look bad/stingy, so they just give the customer what he/she wants - even if it costs them a bit extra.

In some ways, this is good because it shows excellent customer service to the public, but it can also be bad if customers continuously game the system and manipulate companies into getting what they want even when it is not totally deserved. In the long run, this can lead to increased expenses for the company.

Arabic & More
Jordan
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 52
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone.
Thank you, Amel.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Terry Richards
1 hr
agree  Yasutomo Kanazawa
12 hrs
agree  magdadh
2 days 3 hrs
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