Do you have a feeling that the Internet and various social media platforms is leaving your company behind? If you are not tracking the relationships you have with the online community, you are missing some great opportunities to address customer complaints and improve your companies image across the entire world.
In the previous decades when cell phones weighed ten pounds and the internet was just a twinkle in our eyes, there was a deeper connection between customer service and the almighty customer. For service or repair of a microwave, you called the company and actually got to speak with a human being! Sounds great right? Well, even though you were able to speak to a human being who speaks English, you had to play the “on hold” game. So you could be on hold for an hour trying to figure out why you can’t fry ice cream in the microwave.
However, today many things are done electronically. Help lines are voice activated and companies will prefer to respond via email. I call this relationship of the consumer to internet as the e-relationship. The main drawback with an e-relationship is the loss of communicating emotions with companies to voice their opinion.
In the old days, if you had a bone to pick with a company, you could call them or even mail them. Most employees would ignore calls from irate customers. But some complaints would be heard. These complaints can be used to improve the product or service.
The internet allows anyone from anywhere to say just about anything. They can even speak their mind anonymously. Many consumers jump at the chance to review products or services. Especially, if the customer is ready to spill their emotions.
Let’s use Amazon.com as an example. Look at any product on their site and you will notice the many reviews toward the bottom of the page. Customers can rate products 1-5 stars and leave a brief comment. Sometimes, reviewers leave some pretty interesting comments. Unfortunately, there could be hundred’s of sites like Amazon that have the same type of review system.
A good community manager will use software or their own methods to find any review like this. They will do their best to find the individual and contact them. The idea is to find out why the customer is not satisfied. All successful businesses make mistakes. But a longstanding business must attempt to learn from their mistakes Speaking with unhappy customers is a sure way to improve a product or service.
The internet can even cause “multiple personalities syndrome”. Even the most reserved, timid and well mannered individual will use the internet as a medium to voice their displeasure. If you do not believe me, consult other websites that allow product reviews. Even use Facebook as an example. People feel inclined to write what’s on their mind, regardless of what it means to anyone else. If a customer with a reserved demeanor has a bad experience at a restaurant, they will use the anonymity of the internet to voice their displeasure. This situation brings up another point to why monitoring the online community is so important.
Hiring a community manager is a good idea to help build a loyal list of customers. The most rewarding customers sincerely appreciate companies that reach out to them to help resolve problems. So even if the customer has one bad experience. Due to the company’s diligence to resolve their complaint, they will return to your business again!
People will use the internet as a method to research products. So it is important that a company manages reviews. Positive reviews are great. But negative reviews signal a missed opportunity and an area for additional revenue. All companies with an online presence should acknowledge this idea.
The internet is open to the entire world. Unless 100% of your customers are satisfied with your product or service, you have some work to do! If you do have a 100% satisfaction rate, you deserve an e-high-five. (Electronic high five) Perhaps it would just be easier to “Like” your Facebook page.
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