BtoB Online published a short little something today following a Dallas poll in which 46 percent of respondents said that angry bloggers should be ignored or managed by the customer relations department.

I'm not going to lie to you—these poll findings elevated my blood pressure quite a bit. And if you're not entirely sure what the findings have to do with insurance sales, allow me to make the connection for you.

Ignoring angry clients is like shooting yourself in the foot. Repeatedly. Why? Not only can consumer criticism foster the necessary change you need to improve your business practices, but, as you may have noticed, people are talking. They're talking about their experiences with companies and the business people they interact with—the good and the bad. And people are spreading these experiences—good and bad—all over the blogosphere.

By now you've probably seen or at least heard of AOL's poor customer service after patron Vincent Ferrari was badgered for cancelling his account. And, despite the fact that blogs like The Consumerist are relentlessly criticizing AOL for its business practices, the company [which did release an apologetic statement after the Ferarri incident] doesn't seem to care what anyone else is saying about them. Tisk, tisk.

But back to the question at hand: what should you do with the angry people? Well, you should talk to them. Whether you've received an angry or critical comment on your blog, or a consumer calls in and complains about your business practices, my advice is to listen to your critics and engage them in an open dialogue. Because even if you're unable to come up with a solution that makes everyone happy [which is most certainly the case sometimes], ignoring complaints altogether can put you in an AOL-esque world of hurt.

So fear not the critical comments. Face them. Explore them. Learn something. [End rant.]