1. Social
Media
Education
This document has been prepared for restricted distribution and contains materials and
information that SPECK Media Inc. considers confidential, proprietary, and significant for the
protection of its business. The distribution of this document is limited solely to those either
actively involved in evaluation and selection of SPECK Media Inc. as the firm to conduct this
© 2011 SPECK Media. All rights reserved. Confiden<al and proprietary.will be involved with the program described within.
assignment, or those that

2. Education
Handling General Feedback
Feedback is essential to social media - we are continuously looking for feedback from
consumers, critics, customers, investors and anyone else with a heartbeat is often
extremely valuable, no matter how disappointing that feedback might be.
Like most things in life, using feedback to our advantage is an exercise in separating
the wheat from the chaff. So when dealing with feedback we need to consider these
social media governance guidelines:
Who the source is. Not all opinions are created equal and not all should be treated
equal. Bottom line: trust, expertise and experience are all critical factors in deciding
whether a particular piece of feedback is worthy of consideration.
The tone in which feedback is provided. Someone who criticizes our, product or
business may have entirely logical justifications. But feedback is only useful if it
provides a pathway to improvement. Therefore feedback that is provided in a
constructive manner is worth 100 times as much to us as feedback that is provided
insultingly.
Quantitative versus qualitative. There are substantial differences between
quantitative feedback and qualitative feedback. Generally, quantitative feedback is
easier to analyze and can be a good guide for high-level decision making. But
qualitative feedback often provides the all-important details that are required for
implementation.
The consistency of feedback. If feedback is consistent across multiple sources, our
rule is to consider that we are being told the truth.
How realistic the feedback is. When sorting through feedback, it's important to keep
in mind that there is always going to be feedback that we can't put to use no matter how
good it is. The question to ask when evaluating a piece of feedback is: Can we
realistically incorporate this feedback into what I'm doing?
© 2011 SPECK Media. All rights reserved. Confiden<al and proprietary.

3. Education
Handling General Feedback
Checklist:
Who the source is?
Ask yourself this question: Is this a current or potential customer? The opinions of
paying customers (or potential customers) should be treated like gold.
The tone in which feedback is provided.
Ask yourself this question: Is this tone neutral, promoting something or generally
positive?
Quantitative versus qualitative.
Ask yourself this question: Yes or No
The consistency of feedback.
Ask yourself this question: Do we see this same feedback through other channels?
How realistic the feedback is?
Ask yourself this question: Is the feedback something that merits a higher level
response?
© 2011 SPECK Media. All rights reserved. Confiden<al and proprietary.

4. Education
Handling Negative Feedback
The first step to dealing with negative feedback is determining what type of feedback
we received. Negative feedback comes in a few different flavors, each of which is best
dealt with by a different type of response. Determining which type of feedback we are
dealing with is an essential first step toward figuring out what is the appropriate
response.
Straight Problems – Someone has an issue with our services and has laid out exactly
what went wrong. This type of feedback is negative in the sense that it paints MB
Financial in a poor light, but it can be helpful in exposing real problems that need to be
dealt with.
Constructive Criticism – Even more helpful is when the comment comes with a
suggestion attached. Many customers — including some of our most loyal — will use
social media to suggest ways in which we can improve our services. While this type of
feedback may point out our flaws, and is thus negative, it can be extremely helpful to
receive.
Merited Attack – While the attack itself may not be merited, the issue that catalyzed it
does have merit in this type of negative feedback. Essentially, MB Financial did
something wrong, and someone is angry.
Trolling/Spam – The difference between trolling and a merited attack are that trolls
have no valid reason for being angry at MB Financial. Also in this category are
spammers, who will use a negative comment about our services (whether true or not) to
promote a competing service.
© 2011 SPECK Media. All rights reserved. Confiden<al and proprietary.

5. Education
Handling Negative Feedback (continued)
Checklist
Straight Problems - a response is almost certainly necessary. Whether that response
is personal or a broad public-facing message depends on how widespread the problem
is and how many people reported it. Regardless, if a real problem exists, steps should
be taken to fix it and customers should be notified that those steps are being taken.
Remember that there will be times when such criticism is the result of a perceived
problem rather than an actual problem (e.g., someone who just doesn’t like the method
by which you do something). Even this type of complaint should be given a response, if
only to say, “Thanks for bringing it to our attention, but here’s why we do it that way.”
Constructive Criticism - also requires a response. Certainly there will be times when
it’s not possible to implement the suggestion given. It is well worth the effort to thank
those consumers who took the time to provide a suggestion or point out your product’s
flaws.
Merited Attacks - are a bit tougher to deal with, because they are more likely to feel
personal. We should always try to keep in mind that this type of feedback, as harsh as it
may be, has a basis in a real problem. It is best to respond promptly and with a positive
tone.
Trolling or Spam - this type of feedback isn’t really feedback at all. It is designed either
to bait us into an unnecessary and image-damaging fight, or to siphon off our
customers using underhanded tactics. We should always ignore this variety of
feedback, and when appropriate, remove it as soon as we spot it.
© 2011 SPECK Media. All rights reserved. Confiden<al and proprietary.