Tales from Wall Street: Dealing with the Angry Investor
It’s been a very rough last few days on Wall Street. After nearly 20 years of doing investor relations, I’ve learned to weather the storm when it comes to crashes, corrections and the impact of what the Fed says (or doesn’t say) on any given day.
That said, investing is not just an intellectual exercise, but an emotional one, too. Whether it’s the Dow dropping 600 points, or less than stellar earnings results, chances are that if you are a public company CEO, CFO or investor relations professional, you’ve dealt with an upset investor.
Following are my dos and don’ts for dealing with an angry or upset investor:
Do actively listen. The best way to do this is to take good notes on what the investor is saying.
Do show empathy. Acknowledge what the investor is saying (and respectfully ask for clarification when needed). Treat every investor with genuine respect.
Do be calm, matter of fact and professional. Dealing with a professional or personal investor’s investments can be highly emotional. Be conscious of your body language and tone of voice. If an investor is profane or abusive, don’t respond in kind. Instead, remove yourself from the situation if you feel tempted to “fight back.”
Do correct misinformation and take the emotion out of the exchange. Avoid attacking the investor’s emotions or feelings about a stock when addressing any misinformation they’ve brought up. Your job is not to change their mind about how they feel about a stock – but to present them with factual information.
Don’t respond with sarcasm. While it may be OK in context among friends, it has the potential to be misinterpreted in a written conference call transcript or when an investor posts what you said on a message board.
Don’t get defensive or try to “solve” the issue right away. Wait for the cue or ask the investor for permission to ask questions or respond.
Don’t say “The stock is turning around or it’s going to go up soon.”
Don’t, under any circumstances, try to advise the investor on whether or not they should keep or sell a stock. If the investor asks you, “What would you do?” the appropriate response is “It would be inappropriate for me to advise you on whether you should buy or sell your stock.”
Do talk about your company’s “investor” story. Each company has its own unique investor thesis. Emphasize the fundamentals of your company’s story.
Do be proactive in your response, but don’t promise anything you can’t deliver. If you don’t know the answer, don’t make one up. There is nothing wrong with saying “When is a good time for me to get back to you on this issue?”
Do keep your answers short and to the point. It can be tempting to try to add additional assurances or information to your response, but when dealing with public company information issues – the best response is to stick with information already public.
– E.E. Wang, ewang@pondel.com
