The
fact that many companies now have a presence on social media websites is a true
sign of the power that social media commands and that the companies recognize
this power. However, the mere presence
on social media is not enough, it is how effectively the company engages with the consumer.
Reportedly,
Comcast get this and has a social media team that is allowed to address
customer issues through social media interactions. (Qualman 2012) Personally, I
am not surprised to see a cable /high speed internet provider among the first
to get it. In my opinion, most people would expect a company that provides high
tech equipment and/or services to be understand the changing perceptions of
customer service.
My first
experience with social media and a company responding to a complaint was with
Microsoft’s Xbox support. I made minimal
rant on Twitter, because really how much can you rant in 140 characters? Less than five minutes after I posted, I
received a message from @xboxsupport
asking for more details.
After a few messages back and forth, my problem was
resolved in less time it would have taken to have gotten through a phone system’s
automated prompts. This initial
experience set a high level of expectation when engaging or being engaged by a
customer service team on social media.
 |
| A company obviously doing it right. Image part of screen capture from http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-8000/most-responsive-brand-on-twitter/ |
Conversely,
nothing aggravates me more than having a conversation on social media with a company
only to have me refer them to their customer service phone number For me, the
whole purpose of engaging a company via social media, is to avoid the ever present
automated phone systems and the seemingly eternal hold sessions.
All and in
all, my personal experience with companies customer service via social media
has been more akin to my Xbox example than the unnamed companies in the second.
Companies need to be aware that consumers want value for engaging them with
social media or else the consumer moves on to a company who provides it.
*edit notes, inadvertently published draft, pulled back to draft status until completed.
*edit notes, inadvertently published draft, pulled back to draft status until completed.
References:
Qualman, E. (2012). Socialnomics: How social media
transforms the way we live and do business [kindle edition]. (2nd ed., pp.
30-33). John Wiley & Sons, Inc: Hoboken,NJ.
Recently I've had to use chat, rather than use the phone and be put on hold for 20 minutes, while dealing with a credit card company. Normally, I don't go for this, but after experiencing how fast my questions were answered I'm not going back to the phone method unless its necessary. This experience has got me adding the companies I deal with to my social media pages. No doubt some will probably rate better in the customer service department than others. Proper handling of social media for business really give the opportunity to increase the companies volume and less time spent problem solving and more time spent on new products and creativity with instant feedback,
ReplyDeleteVery nice Stephen. I live in a very rural area that has poor telephone and internet service. There are lots of people who rant via Facebook daily. I surely with that Frontier (the company that is used in my area) would pay attention to Facebook posts. However, maybe my friends and I should rant on Twitter and maybe then they would get the message. One good thing that has happended for our small rural area is that a competitor has moved in and is making waves. Had the company payed attention to the complaints maybe they wouldn't be losing so much business.
ReplyDeleteVery nice Stephen. I live in a very rural area that has poor telephone and internet service. There are lots of people who rant via Facebook daily. I surely with that Frontier (the company that is used in my area) would pay attention to Facebook posts. However, maybe my friends and I should rant on Twitter and maybe then they would get the message. One good thing that has happended for our small rural area is that a competitor has moved in and is making waves. Had the company payed attention to the complaints maybe they wouldn't be losing so much business.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was ironic the very week we read about Comcast and their customer service that our course instructor has a totally different experience.
ReplyDeleteStephen I agree that a company or organization cannot simply have a Twitter account and make a daily post. Social media, like most things, is something you either go all-in for, or should not do at all.