The Baer Facts Issue 52: Hug Your Haters Still Works

Hug Your Haters...to the MAX

Some of you may have read my book, Hug Your Haters. 

It's about how to handle customer negativity. My publisher tells me it's sold the most of any my books, which illustrates the enduring nature of the problem it addresses.

One of the keys to my system for tackling criticism is to always address it.

When you disappear....or deflect....or deny you forfeit your ability to engage with the complainant and help shape the narrative.

In the book, I recommend you answer every complaint...in every channel...every time. 

If I were to write a new version of Hug Your Haters, I most certainly would include a chapter on Oatly, the Sweden-based oat milk company.

Oatly is irreverent in all of their communication, but they combined that insouciance with a dollop of haters hugging and built FckOatly.  

Here's the introduction to their website devoted to customer criticism:

"Welcome to F*ck Oatly! A site devoted to helping our fans—and the thousands of people who hate us—better understand everything that’s “wrong” with our company.

Why would we build such a website? That’s a great question! 

For starters, it’s super convenient to have the latest boycotts and criticisms all in one place. But more importantly, we’re not the type of company to hide from moments like these.  We see all the negative headlines, posts and petitions as an inevitable consequence of trying to create positive societal change."

WOW.

This is like criticism jiu jitsu!

Not only does Oatly not try to dodge hate, they use their own resources to amplify it, correlating attention at online real estate they control, so that they can address concerns in one place. 

Oatly not only actually addresses each of these controversies, they admit some mistakes along the way, which makes the entire FckOatly approach more credible. 

Further, they don't just try to explain and spin the issue, as they publish the actual social media conversations via screen shots:

But my favorite part is they acknowledge that this approach of putting all the hate in one, digital basket isn't for everyone. They even invite you to do something about it, by going to FckFckOatly.com...

Where you can click a hate button up to five times, to express your displeasure with the entire endeavor. 

Your business isn't perfect.

Mistakes will be made.

And today's customers are VERY willing to let you know it.

Instead of trying to bob and weave, maybe consider the Oatly approach? 

The best way to hug your haters is to embrace them....head on.

The Books Report

I hear it over and over in my travels....business leaders are struggling to keep their best people. 

My friend Joey Coleman has the antidote. His 8-step employee retention system is meticulously researched, massively doable, and incredibly valuable. 

He's been cranking on this book for YEARS, and all that time was worth it. I'm a big fan of his thinking, and this is his most vital work yet. 

Never Lose an Employee Again is worth a heck of a lot more than $30, and consider the audio version, as Joey has great pipes and a lot of gusto. 

Jay's Faves

LAUNCHED! 

I opened the doors to the official Tequila Jay Baer online store.

T-shirts, hats, glasses, mugs, pins, coasters and more. 

Head on over for great tequila gifts for a friend (or yourself). Gracias! 

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