When most consumers can walk out of a store and send a Tweet or Facebook post to hundreds, if not thousands, of friends every company should be on high alert.
Call it what you want - a conversation, a buzz, or 24/7/365 action - but the social media phenomenon can make or break a brand, product or company in a matter of days, or even hours.
Here’s an example: in less than 24 hours, I found these posts on Facebook:
- “Not happy with Delta! Why did Bill not get charged for his checked bag and I did? I’m even a FF member and he is not!! Grrrrrr”
- “Capital City Appliance customer service is completely inflexible and forgot that the customer is always, well, the customer! Beware!”
- “Dell’s customer service sucks.”
I didn’t even look at Twitter, LinkedIn or other social networking sites I use… who knows how many more I’d find. So how can smart brands protect themselves from social media backlash and recession proof their business at the same time?
It’s Almost All About The Experience
A quote in a recent whitepaper from the Peppers & Rogers Group, “Winning on Service in an Uncertain Economy,” sums it up best:
“The good news is that those companies who are making an effort to build customer loyalty through exceptional customer service are finding themselves at least partially insulated against this economic backlash. In tough economic times, people like to deal with companies that genuinely care about them. We are more careful about what we spend and who we spend it with. Companies who have been mistreating, ignoring, or otherwise abusing their customers will suffer the most.”
As the report cites, succeeding in down economic times requires a renewed focus on creating an exceptional customer experience.
The Number One Reason People Do Business With You
According to a the Harris Interactive Customer Experience Report from March 2006, price will always be important in a customer’s purchase decision, but “outstanding service” is the number one reason customers do business with a company. And bad service can damage your credibility with every negative blog, tweet and post.
It’s no wonder that hospital systems like Henry Ford and the Cleveland Clinic have hired experienced customer service leaders to focus on delivering the ideal hospital experience for patients and their families.
Economy Lags, But Don’t Let Service Follow
Don’t let the economy get you down. Instead, consider these 10 tips and techniques from Peppers & Rogers:
- Focus on cost savings rather than revenue generation when implementing a customer initiative, then use those savings to fund future enhancements
- Don’t discontinue an existing customer service initiative - if needed, reduce the scope of, or postpone improvements to the initiative until the economy improves
- Don’t wait for customer relationships to weaken or break - you can’t afford the loss of revenue or goodwill.
- Customers make purchase decisions more deliberately in an uncertain economy, so give them the services and information they need to choose your company over the competition.
- Customers take longer to make purchase decisions when times are tough, so bridge the gap with a sequence of individually customized communications that provide concrete information on the specific product features and benefits that fulfill their needs.
- Spend your budget wisely, by shifting dollars to individualized service initiatives and communications targeted to those customers who are most valuable or who are most likely to grow in value.
- Clearly communicate value in each customer message - empathetically explaining how and why your product is aligned with the customer’s concerns in a trying economic environment.
- Don’t overwhelm customers with surveys, and when a customer does respond, let them know that their feedback has been received, and most importantly, that it is sincerely appreciated.
- Invest in innovation - fueled in part by customer listening - because it can pay off in dividends.
- The memories of customers will extend well beyond the end of an uncertain economy - they won’t forget (or forgive) opportunistic actions or other violations of trust, but they will remember excellent customer service.
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photo credit: Spencer E Holtaway]
