Is it really completely acceptable for you guys, that any anonymous troll can walk in, make any reputation-harming claim he wants and walk away without criticism?
And do you really find it acceptable to bash the victim when he makes a statement and provide evidence against the false claim?
-BartelsMedia
I hope that my posting in this thread does not make it go further downhill. First, let me say that I too work for a small software publisher, so I can directly identify with the position Michael and PhraseExpress are in. That being said we have a largely positive community and relatively little adversarial comment online. I tend to feel this is partly because we intentionally do *not* pursue and attempt response to every single mention of our product, particularly in cases where it is being referenced by a user of competing software. The PhraseExpress approach seems the polar opposite to that, but we've found that the best way to potentially convert someone using other software is to give them a free copy. Beyond that it's not likely that any amount of argumentation will convince people otherwise, especially when discussing a commercial product vs. free ones. So I would argue that the PhraseExpress Public Relations approach is potentially at the root of some negative response, which is important for you to consider.
Now, I can't speak for anyone else, but my first reaction upon seeing ggamer's original post in this thread was somewhat dubious, slightly negative. While I recognized some of the concerns mentioned as issues I have also noted (such as the much discussed aggressive response to any and all PhraseExpress discussions), there were also a number of dubious or inflated criticisms that seemed to detract from and devalue the post as a whole, so that I largely dismissed it. Had another DC member responded first, I suspect it might have been something along the lines "You're right, there are some issues, but some of your criticisms are pretty silly or even rude". But that's not what happened.
There were 3 ways it could have gone, as I see it:
It may have just gone unanswered. While I recognize the likely contention by PhraseExpress that this would be a negative result for them, in fact I would argue that this means nobody really cares about the post and opinion of the poster, which is generally a good result. Yes, their opinion "stands" unchallenged, and that is difficult to accept without responding, but I do tend to think this is for the best. Responding allows you to potentially address the issues raised, but it also raises the profile of the original poster's comments, which might otherwise just fade into obscurity.
Another DC member might have responded to it, which I think could have either taken the form of what I mentioned above - some acknowledgement of the points made but also concern about the total critique - or may have been more in agreement. Tt may also have been something else, of course, but I think these possibilities are most likely. It's hard to say for sure. But regardless I feel that after one or more additional posts was made would be a better time to address the discussion, not before. This allows you to see what direction the conversation will take, if any, and respond to the general sentiment rather than one particular poster. After all you might have found more support than you ended up getting in this thread had people been more focused on the content of the original message (which I've already mentioned was problematic in my view) rather than your subsequent response. I will agree that it would be nice for everyone to address both at least, while the focus does seem to be on your response rather than the originator, but I think that just speaks to the issues I'm trying to bring to your attention in how (and when) you participate in these conversations.
Finally, what did happen is that you responded first which I believe created an adversarial tone from the beginning. There are multiple factors at work here, one being the perception by many here (myself included) that your language and tone are "aggressive". This may well be due to non-native language issues, I can't say. But I can definitely say that this impression is shared by several people in this and other threads where you've participated. I think, as the representative of a business, it is in your best interest to determine why this is and change it. That's your best bet at improving your public and customer relations.
- Oshyan
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