I can’t claim I was early social media adopter, but I have been on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for a while now and built a following. I have met the majority of my followers in person. I am also not shy about reviewing businesses on Yelp and other sites, because I believe both positive and (especially) constructive negative feedback can improve businesses.
We have seen some massive changes in the last decade as the impact of word of mouth has grown exponentially as each new communication platform became mainstream. While a story of poor customer service experience used to rarely travel beyond a close circle of family and friends, everything has changed now that we have entered the age of social media. The tables have turned and the transparency and the accountability levels of the businesses are way up (intended or unintended). If you screw up, there will be video parodies of your business on YouTube and Yelp reviews containing the gory details – your (now former) customers will freely share their displeasure with thousands of their friends and followers before the dust has settled. Talk about a ripple effect!
But, as many companies are discovering, these are great times to turn customers into brand evangelists/promoters. The positive ripple effect aided by social media can be massive! Just look at Zappos, Amazon, Jet Blue, Virgin America, Apple, and etc,
So what can we, as business leaders, do to take advantage of this change?
- Customer service should be the first place we invest in. No more outsourcing! No more poorly trained and poorly paid script-reading robots!
- Listen listen listen! Social media monitoring tools are available in every complexity and price range. Use them!
- No, it is not fair, but the reality is that you need to take care of the “squeaky wheels” on public channels (like Twitter, blogs, etc.) first. Turn angry customers into rabid fans with a proverbial bullhorn. If it takes a CEO’s apology to satisfy an angry customer, then so be it.
- All feedback channeled to your sales and product teams should be unfiltered! We tend to think our stuff does not stink, which is why I always advocate that sales people should also be doing collection on their accounts and developers, engineers, product managers should be answering customer support calls. Our dislike for unpleasant interactions makes us sell and develop products better.
Photo credit: Tom Blackwell
Hi, my name is Apolinaras Sinkevicius, but most call me Apollo. I am the guy who takes care of the day-to-day business and technology of rapidly growing companies. 12 years in managing the "nuts and bolts" of companies and being a steward of corporate cultures makes me a seasoned operations professional and right hand person to founders and CEOs.
Hi Apollo,
Social Media has effectively “thrown back the curtain” on business operations and culture. Those who had something to hide are completely caught off guard and are left with very little options if they choose to continue to ignore problems with product quality or poor customer service.
Best advice here is to not worry too much about social tools or other people's opinions. Instead, focus energy on being good at what you do.
Matthew,
Thanks for your comment. Glad to see you stop by my blog!
I absolutely agree. Unless product and customer service are up to snuff, no mastery of social media will help the company.
Hi Apollo,
Social Media has effectively “thrown back the curtain” on business operations and culture. Those who had something to hide are completely caught off guard and are left with very little options if they choose to continue to ignore problems with product quality or poor customer service.
Best advice here is to not worry too much about social tools or other people's opinions. Instead, focus energy on being good at what you do.
Matthew,
Thanks for your comment. Glad to see you stop by my blog!
I absolutely agree. Unless product and customer service are up to snuff, no mastery of social media will help the company.