Customer Service and my Social Media experience

It is said that a happy customer will tell three people about their experience, and an unhappy customer will tell ten. Now this statement is not exactly true, due to the introduction and acceptance of social media a happy or unhappy customer can tell thousands of people with just one click of their mouse.

For example, I purchased a pair of designer boots last winter. They were beautiful, comfortable and quite expensive. Since they were designer boots I was expecting for them to make it through a few winters for me. After one week of wearing them, the sole began to detach it’s self from the shoe and the hard part of the heel fell off making my boots uneven and awkward to walk in. Being that I had always been satisfied with this brand it was quite upsetting to have my new boots fall apart so soon. So, I did what any unsatisfied customer would do, I wrote a review for the world to see.

Using social media is one of the fastest and newest ways to connect with customers. Utilizing it could turn into major profits and loyal customers. However companies are not the only ones who know how to use social media. All sorts of customers now have the opportunity to share with the world their feelings about any brand or company, on many different sites. Now that conversations and feelings can be made public so quickly, organizations can no longer ignore their customer complaints. It can be a scary thing knowing that in opening your company up to the world of social media that there can and will be criticism. The trick is to listen and embrace it, and then formulate a plan for how to respond appropriately.

The shoe and boots company noticed my complaint and realized they needed to react, but first they needed to understand why I was upset in the first place and how they should respond.

Listening is completely different from monitoring. While some organizations will use the 2 words interchangeably, understanding the difference between the two will help you to understand your customer’s wants and needs more clearly. According to “Likable Social Media” by Dave Kerpen, monitoring has an impersonal feel to it and can bring up images similar to the FBI, or surveillance cameras. Listening on the other hand, involves actually thinking, processing and trying to understand about the comments that are being made about your organization.

Finding comments that are being made is easy, some may be made directly on your organization facebook wall, your organization may have been tagged in a comment, or you can use the search tool to find certain phrases or key words that relate to your organization. Searching for comments and feedback on your competitors can also keep you up to date on how you compare. It is always good to have a competitive edge and know why consumers should choose your product over another.

After listening to my comment the company needed to respond. Ignoring or deleting my comments would have continued in my dissatisfaction with the product, and likely I would have told more people.
Dave Kerpen in “Likeable Social Media” explains the Do Not Delete (DND) rule. This rule states that, “unless a comment is obscene, profane, bigoted, or contains someone’s personal and private information, never delete it from a social network”. Being deleted can be seen as the ultimate slap in the face. It sends an “I don’t care,” kind of message. It is also likely to upset a customer more, like adding insult to injury.
Additionally choosing to ignore the negative comment and hope that not many people will read it is also not an effective strategy. Not responding is a response. This will make the customer feel like the company doesn’t care about their personal business, and will likely drive them to a competitor company.

Instead the company chose to send me an empathetic e-mail apologizing for my experience and asking me to chat with a customer service representative. They also choose to respond with a similar message on the product review I wrote.

This quick public and private response is the perfect way to try and patch things up with the disgruntled customer and to show the world that this is the kind of company the cares, and wants to help. Sending a personal message and addressing the customer by name will show them that the company wants to help and understand the problem. Asking them to chat with a customer service representative shows that they also do not just want to try to “buy” the customers approval with a coupon or special offer. Offering a coupon or gift can help to heal the hurt after a customer feels as if their issue has been listened too. Listening to their comments and concerns first is key.

After receiving the e-mail I decided to online chat with the representative. She listened to my story and apologized for me having had such a disappointing experience. She also explained to me I that I could send in the boots and get a full refund even for the fee to ship them back. After sending in my boots and getting my refund, I purchased a new pair of boots from the same company. Due to the customer service representative’s ability to understand me, this company was able to turn my complaint around and make me into supporter again. Since these ones have given me no problems I decided it was worth it to write a new review and praise them for their help. I now also rave about my boots and how much I love them!

This is a perfect example of utilizing a negative social media comment and turning the disgruntled customer’s feelings around to make them a believer again. Their ability to listen to the complaint means that they can understand the customer and show that they really do care. Responding effectively and immediately in the public and private show’s their concern for the customer. Ultimately knowing how to fix the problem kept a loyal customer. While social media can result in some ugly encounters, knowing how to utilize these comments and respond appropriately can ultimately pay off.

Rachel Geertsema
University of Minnesota
Jour 3279
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