it’s not my job to write about social media, i’m not even pretending that it is – but i have something to say. it IS my job to be aware of and concerned about customer service, and that’s mostly what i want to talk about.
i read an article this morning about businesses that react more swiftly and generally better if the complaint is registered on twitter, rather than in person. and i found it highly disturbing.
customer service has been a huge part of every job i have ever had. i take it very seriously, and i take a lot of pride in being really good at it. in many of my jobs, i was the person who handled front line customer feedback, and made decisions about how to respond. one of the hands down most effective ways of helping an upset customer feel better, or more calm about a situation, is to listen to them, look at their face, and really hear them. and tell them that you hear them, and that you understand why they are upset, and mean it. from that point, you decide how to resolve the situation. and let’s face it, sometimes there isn’t anything you can do to fix it other than to apologize. and you also can’t talk to everyone in person, but you can take some of the same steps via phone or email. i used to respond to customers with handwritten letters, when i worked at businesses that didn’t have computers yet. (shocking! i know!)
here’s what bugs. it is tragic that even in a crappy economy, there are businesses who would react to an IN PERSON complaint by doing almost nothing, but turn on the charm when faced with the threat of other potential customers finding out about it via facebook or twitter, or whatever other way you find out about stuff. don’t they know that even without social media the threat is there and always has been?
when you have a great experience at a business, you tell people. you feel good about recommending it as a place to spend your money. but if you have a bad experience at a business, it’s like a virus. most people tell 10 times as many friends about bad experiences as they tell about good ones. don’t believe me? check out your twitter feed and count how many people are complaining about something. that used to happen *before* twitter too. believe it.
as a business owner, i would so much rather get a complaint in person. i consider it a great opportunity to have someone say to my face what they need, or didn’t like. so that i can respond to it! with my voice! to their face. and we can either live happily ever after or go our separate ways with a sense of closure.
YES. businesses should monitor what people are saying about them on social media. i have clients who pay me to do this for them, it is critical. i answer questions on twitter or facebook such as “how late are you open?” or “can i bring my dog to sit on your patio?” and it’s just another channel of communication that needs to be open for people to talk to a business. but NO! businesses should never in a million years give extra special over the top customer service to someone because they are afraid that if they don’t, 1500 people on facebook might find out.
businesses should give thoughtful and attentive customer service to everyone, across the board, because it’s the RIGHT THING TO DO, whether someone is going to talk about it on social media or not.
all that said, it’s not unreasonable to ask customers everywhere to give businesses an opportunity to make things right by speaking directly to them, via whatever channel, as a FIRST effort, rather than than just throwing a complaint out into the atmosphere and waiting for free stuff to be delivered to your door.
