Customer Always Right? It Doesn’t Matter.

“Many a person would rather you heard their story than granted their request." 

--Lord Chesterfield

Two recent studies indicate wide spread malpractice when it comes to responding to customers through social media. An article by David Strom details the studies (see the full article here). 

According to Strom, 71 percent of people who used Twitter to complain about a company did not receive a response from that company and less than five percent of customer questions on corporate Facebook pages get a response.  

When is worse to have a social media presence rather than no presence at all?  When you don’t respond to your customers.

Social media has ushered in a new era of customer engagement.  With that engagement, comes new expectations for customer service:

·         A quick response.  Social media users are accustomed to more immediacy in their interactions than other customers.

·         Customers expect a personal response through social media.  They want to be addressed directly, probably by name, and in an understandable way.

·         24/7.  Customers can post comments, complaints and questions at all hours of the day or night and on weekends.  They expect a response during those times, too.

The new era of customer engagement, however, also means new opportunities to delight customers.  The Twitter study said that 83.5 percent of the people who did get a response either “liked it” or “loved it.” 

New opportunities to please customers include:

·         Proactive customer service.  For the first time ever, customers don’t have to contact you directly in order to get a response.  You can see their gripes on sites like Twitter and reach out to them.

·         Relationships.  Social media presents better opportunities to build relationships with large numbers of customers.

·         Customer tailored responses.  You know more about your customer than ever before.  Your responses can be more personal than ever before as well.

So, is the customer always right?  It doesn’t matter, but they deserve a response and you will reap the rewards for it.