This is Jack. He
is my dog and I love him, really I do, but Jack is needy. More specifically, Jack
craves attention, my attention, all the time. He loves to play and constantly
wants to engage and interact. Admittedly, a lot of times I just don’t have the energy
to respond. As a result, Jack gets sad and barks at me. Thankfully, all is
forgiven in a matter of seconds.
Like Jack, consumers love to engage and interact with
brands online. Unlike Jack they don’t forgive and forget when brands fail to
respond. While this may seem like Online Customer Service 101, brands still aren’t
getting it! A recent report by STELLASERVICE found that “one out of four companies failed to
respond to a customer-service question posted on their Facebook wall, and even
fewer replied to questions asked as comments on their posts.”
More than just being rude, a
brand’s failure to respond severely alters consumer attitude and behavior.
According to Conversocial 49.5% of consumers said that they would be “far less
likely to buy anything from that company” if their question or complaint on a
social media page went unanswered.
So, as our brands gain followers online, we can’t get lazy.
All will not be forgiven. Go fetch!
Matt,
ReplyDeleteThis is extremely important to remember as a marketer! The point you mentioned about customers being unlikely to purchase a product from that company if their complaint or question goes unanswered on a social media page is so true. I know that DSW Shoe Warehouse actually has an entire customer service team, separate from their phone customer service team, that monitors their Facebook page and responds to complaints and inquiries. In addition, they have their marketing team hosting contests and such on the page, so if for whatever reason customer service misses someone, marketing can pick up the slack! And vice versa.
As marketers, we must be respectful of our customers time. If they take the time to reach out to us regarding questions or concerns, it is our responsibility to ensure we have the process in place to get back to them in a timely manner. We want to keep them as a customer and have them refer their friends and family members.
ReplyDeleteBest Buy has a Customer Service Twitter account that is very successful: http://newmediagroove.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/best-buys-best-buy-twelpforce/