When experts disagree, they both can get positive news coverage. Always consider how constructive dialog with those who put down your products or services can be turned into something to promote your organization. Especially when the media is interested, often they will give equal coverage to both sides of the story as you hash out the point at hand.
It doesn't matter as much what they do for the media, but what would you do for your customers?
How to turn poor media coverage, a difference of opinion, or a major product failure into a gold mine:
Get facts together right away, have a clear picture of the situation. Contact the customer who is having problems, anyone involved in the situation, to gather as much information as possible. You want to know who, what, when, where, and why-- get all the details you can before coming to an opinion of the situation.
Accept responsibility for the situation publicly. "While there were a number of things our client could have done to prevent this situation, it is ultimately our responsibility to lead them toward training that could have helped them better handle this situation." Demonstrate how this issue could have been prevented, and that you didn't push hard enough for the end-user to properly train their user. (Works better for software or safety related issues.)
Make a knowledgeable individual available for media questions, be useful to anyone reporting on the situation. Address the concerns from reporters, be prepared with statement on how this effects other news worthy events currently facing the company. Nothing is worse than "no comment", at least acknowledge the situation and make an effort to look into it. This event could create new relationships with reporters if you handle yourself correctly.
Issue technical warnings to other customer who might experience the same. Make sure you don't get a rash of the same problem, have your key people personally check on customers who could experience the same situation. Offer technical assistance (in a cost effective way) to make sure other surprises don't come up while the media is ripe.
Point out how the failure is common to failures seen with competing products. Demonstrate how under similar circumstances your competitors products handle the same way, however, then point out what sets your product apart. You don't have to mention any names. Just, address the customers problem with what makes you the same, and face the publicity with what makes you different in respect to the customers desires.
Check on the needs of existing customers addressing any concerns. Turn this unfortunate event to find out what else customers need. If they have any concerns it is better to address them now, than a competitor addressing them later. Check up on your major accounts, "You may have read about the situation with X, we're still looking into it, and wanted to address any concerns you have."
Counter with an appropriate second opinion. Make sure your point of view is expressed when it is appropriate to the situation. "We're not sure what happened in that specific situation, but sometimes these precautions can prevent this type of situation." Without blaming anyone, educate the readers on how to prevent similar failures.
Subscribe in a reader