Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers

The book gives a lot of good insight about dealing with customer complaints. Some of the data is a little dated because it was written in 2015 and technology moves so fast now but the message itself still holds up. But I want to specifically point out the author. I was writing a paper for a marketing class and was trying to find some updated statistics. I emailed Jay to see if he had any more applicable research that I could use. Within 5 minutes, he emailed me back with a new study he did in 2022. A principle he points out in the book is to respond to all customers in a timely manner. It wows the customer and creates advocates when providing superior customer service. I was so taken back by the gesture that I had to write a review. Long story short, this is a good read for someone looking to hone their customer service skills. The author has good insight and really knows what he is talking about.

Hi I’m Douglas Burdett, host of The Marketing Book Podcast and I’d like to tell you about the book “Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers” by Jay Baer. Do you feel like you’re getting more complaints from customers these days? You might be, even if you run a tight ship. That’s because technology, particularly social media, has evaporated the barriers of complaint. And while 80 percent of businesses think they deliver “superior” customer service, only 8 percent of customers agree. So while it’s human nature to want to ignore customer complaints or wish that they would go away, “Hug Your Haters” explains why you actually want to encourage complaints – of any kind. Sort of like driving on ice and steering into a skid to regain control of your car, it may seem counterintuitive to want to seek out customer complaints, but that’s where the money is. Jay Baer explains that “haters are the canary in the coal mine.” 95% of unhapppy customers will not complain. They will just go away. But that five percent of your unhappy customers who do care enough to complain give you a roadmap for how to fix whatever ails your business and increase your customer retention. And a five percent increase in customer retention boosts profits by 25 to 85 percent. In Hug Your Haters, Jay Baer’s research has shown that by properly answering every complaint, in every channel, every time, you not only will increase customer loyalty and word of mouth, but you will also find a valuable source of real time feedback to dramatically improve your company’s competitiveness and profitability. The book has lots of examples of businesses of all size who have adopted this approach and who are handsomely profiting because of it. Customer service is more complicated than ever, but the formula for success is achievable and is contained in “Hug Your Haters.” And, to listen to an interview with Jay Baer about "Hug Your Haters," visit MarketingBookPodcast.com.

The book that I chose to read and review was “Hug Your Haters” by Jay Baer. The objective of this book was to teach and inform businesses on how to embrace complaints and to hang on to their customers. Baer referred to the people who complain as haters and stressed the importance of your haters. Many people believe they are just a nuisance; however, Bear proves otherwise. In the beginning of the novel, he stated, “Haters are not your problem… ignoring them is” (Baer 3). He emphasizes how businesses should not turn away but rather should listen to why they are complaining because of how important customer service is becoming nowadays. I completely agree with Baer. As a consumer, I always value a business more and will be more likely to continue to shop there if their customer service is excellent. One of the reasons I consistently shop on Amazon, is because their return policy is extremely easy and anytime I’ve had an issue, they have resolved it well. On the contrary, when I deal with a business who offers terrible customer service, I do not return. Baer included a quote from George Klein, who is the CEO of Peopleocity. He stated, “Nothing ever gets better when you don’t address it, and yet in this day and age we still see businesses that don’t respond” (Klein 4). I also agree with this statement, and it ties into what Baer believes about haters as well, that he addresses later in the book. Baer broke up his book into three informal sections, how a business should embrace and respond to complaints, the types of haters, and customer service. In parts of the book, Baer, discussed how to embrace the haters complaints. He talked about how answering complaints increases customer advocacy across all customer service channels. The example he included was KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. They have 150 employees answering and addressing questions and complaints 24/7, in order to try and answer everything that they can for their customers. However, Baer does talk about how there a five obstacles when it comes to tying to respond to customer complaints. The two biggest that he hit on the most was that there was too much feedback on too many channels and that people are offended by the feedback. Nowadays, with so many different social media platforms, it is so difficult for businesses to keep up with the amount of comments that they receive. However, doing your best to answer these complaints helps turn bad news to good and differentiates you from your competition, as some businesses are unable to provide answers. The next part of the book focused on what Baer created to differentiate the two types of haters. He called them offstage and onstage haters. He writes that offstage haters are the types of people who complain in private, on the phone, or over email. They are slightly older people who are less social media savvy and complain on a less frequent basis. On the other hand, onstage haters complain in public venues such as on social media, review sites, and discussion boards. These are your younger and more technologically savvy haters who complain much more often. Even though I am a younger person, I would consider myself to be an offstage hater because most of my complaints are through email. I do not like to complain publicly. Finally, Baer ties everything together with explaining customer service and how it is so important to a business's success. Baer stated, “The best opportunity to grow your business with customer service is to engage with on stage haters” (Baer 70). Onstage haters are on the rise, especially in businesses such as Microsoft and Xbox, where disputes are handled over Twitter. More offstage haters are becoming onstage haters and I completely agree. I am on Twitter all the time and I constantly see people complaining about the service or product of a company. Overall, I enjoyed reading Hug Your Haters. I believe that it has many strengths while having few, if any, weaknesses that I think should be improved. I really like how Baer organized and presented the information in the book. There were lots of graphics and statistics throughout the book that back his claims and he had excellent ideas that he had examples of how they had been successful in the real world. I also thought that another strength of the book was how Baer included notable and established people in his book. I mentioned about George Klein, the CEO of Peoplocity. He, among others, were able to offer ideas that Baer didn’t and also back Baer’s points as well. The only part of the book that I thought could be improved is to create a stronger person connection to the reader. Throughout the book, it was mainly focused on business dealing with complaints, but I felt Baer could have done a better job of connecting it to the individual reader. I would still recommend this book to anyone who is currently operating a business or considering starting up their own. I found out so many useful tips about how to deal with haters and turn complaints into positives that will improve a business.

A friend recommended this book to me and for some reason (I have no clue why) I was not expecting it to be anything spectacular. I guess I considered the concept to be more or less common sense? I just finished reading the book from front to back and I have to admit, I am impressed. When I received the book, I flipped through and started reading paragraphs here and there. I was truly interested and shocked at how little I actually understood as far as the where, why and who complains! The book is very well written and easy to follow. I had no clue there was so much to learn about complaints and how, when and where to handle them! I am so glad I picked-up this book and plan on reading Youtility by Jay Baer next, he knows customers and helped me understand how to handle all customers (not just the haters) and what to expect in the future. The website is extremely helpful as well.

I heard Jay Baer on the Art of Charm podcast. I finished the book in one sitting it is pretty good. I like Baer's approach, specifically how he relies heavily on data. My main issue (which I am expressing as an onstage hater) is that the Hatrix is missing in the Kindle book! It is the most important piece of the authors thesis! The book states that "(A poster of the Hatrix is available within these pages, and it is free and downloadable at HugYourHaters.com as well. Take a moment to grab it now, and keep the Hatrix in your office to remind you of these key points.)" but the website states "The Hatrix is included in every copy of Hug Your Haters. Order the book now to get it in your hands." Not really nitpicking here but it's disappointing that a very important piece of the book is missing....

Fascinating perspective on how responding to negative feedback helps companies grow. At a time when we appear to be more polarized than at any point in history, and "hating" (i.e., saying something contrarian, negative, or unpopular) is considered a mortal sin by much of society (and therefore marginalized or even suppressed), it is truly *refreshing* to hear that those companies who not only listen to but fully *engage* "haters" are rewarded for their efforts. This book helped me think differently about the role of "haters" in business growth, gave me a number of good ideas to recommend to clients who seek to improve customer loyalty, and inspired me to work on thickening my skin so I, too, can benefit from engaging my "haters." (Can I just say that I hate the term "haters," though? I get that it works beautifully for the book title, and is easily understood by the masses. But it lends too much legitimacy to a term that has served to squelch debate around the world. It's the lazy person's way to quickly shut down a conversation when she realizes she's lost an argument on merit.)

As a recent graduate who has just delved into the world of social community management one of the largest Casual Dining restaurant chains in The States, this book is a wonderfully educational supplement to the learnings from the day-to-day interacting as the brand online. Filled with informative and often amusing anecdotes, Baer's well-written dialogue will remind any marketing professional, especially those in the field of social, just how important their job is in maintaining a positive brand image as expectations rise for online resolution of issues. Reading this book will absolutely provide you with valuable insights and statistics that can help to inform your brand strategy, especially if you are part of a fledgling team-- had I played a role in building my team and dictating the dynamics of our relation to Guest Services, this would be an absolute gold mine. I have recommended this book to anyone who asks about what it's like to be a Social Community Manager, and to anyone looking to better understand the growing importance of social media. I highly recomend.

If integrity matters to you, you’re going to get a lot out of Jay’s latest book. “The best measure of a man isn’t when things are going well, but rather when things are going poorly.” How true. One of Jay’s fundamental principles is to own your mistakes as a business and sincerely engage with your customers, especially in the worst of times. This is the best time to win real fans simply because so few companies do this. Authentic apologies, declarations of empathy such as saying “I’m sorry,” go a long way toward earning trust and a second chance, and Jay shows you how to do this in a credible and replicable way. I run a professional services company, and I found plenty of applications for a client-focused business model. Regardless of what business you’re in, trust and credibility are universally respected -- and desired – qualities worth striving for. "Hug Your Haters" helps ensure you’re on the right path to get there.

I already worked in Customer Experience and all I've learned these years is in this book. I like the examples and as a cheat sheet for the most important things to consider if I have the opportunity to guide a company into this way of customer operations.

Some concepts and insights are interesting, but the main idea could be explained in justo a few Pages. Enjoyablefor reading

What a genius idea... hug your haters. In customer service sometimes it's too easy to ignore those who complain, but changing your mindset and valuing the insight that customer is giving your business FOR FREE! will make your business stand out from the crowd, AND ensure that you are able to fix stuff about your business that annoys folk. Most won't tell you, and never come back, but some will, and if you handle their complaint with a human touch and a positive outlook, you'll win most of them over, changing them into advocates of your business. Genius! Well written and easy to digest, well summarised at the end, and ensures you have a good idea how to start hugging your haters! Highly recommended 👌

Good

Like the content. Important topic. Easy to understand and to apply! Negative feedback is important to find out how to become better!