I just finished reading Kfir Pravda’s article “What Companies are Missing in Social Media Marketing” and I agree with all of it – I also have something I’d like to add.
Social media opens up a door. A door that isn’t so easy to close once it’s been open. It means a company is willing to commit to its customer in every way. Willing to accept all of the good and the bad comments the customer will make, will listen and respond. This isn’t a small level of commitment.
Typically a college student will not have the level of clout in an organization to get something fixed if flags are popping up from the various social media tools. There’s also the possibility that the student may not care enough or have enough experience to even notice the flags, and if flags are recognized – have the experience to know who to go to in order to be certain something can get fixed properly. Organizations need to realize – social media is direct contact with your customer in a very public and loud platform. The repercussions of things not being handled properly can be quite loud. I’m not saying don’t hire a student to for daily management of your platforms – but make certain that an exec is reviewing that dialog daily as well.
I’ve been researching various companies and how they use social media this holiday season (for a lecture I’m giving next month in India on Using Social Media for Competitive Advantage – more on that later) and I’ve been seeing the frustrated, negative comments from buyers on Facebook pages and twitter. The smart companies allow for comments, the smarter companies actually respond to those comments and follow through. And the level of appreciation from customers once the follow through happens is huge. Especially if it’s partnered with an admittance of guilt and an apology (e.g. Yes, you should have received your item on time and we are so so very sorry that we have dropped the ball. Here’s what we’re going to do to fix it… and this is how we’re going to make it up to you… ).
Allowing for comments infers a very high level of commitment to the customer. Basically, you’re asking the customer for trouble – as it is almost inevitable for people to complain about things gone wrong when they know they will be listened to. And by asking for this trouble you are committing to stepping up to the bar and sorting it. In other words, don’t expect to be able to have comments on your Facebook fan page and not do a blessed thing if someone posts something wrong. You could end up with something like a United Breaks Guitars on your hands.
Eventually, if you engage with your customer and treat them fairly you will have your customer going to bat for you. Take the example from L.L. Bean, below.
Someone posted a negative review of a skirt after all previous reviews had been deleted. L.L. Bean has created such a loyal client base that another customer wrote in to defend the skirt and explain that there used to be more comments there. This is really the goal of social media. Creating such a relationship with your customer that they will go out of their way to promote you. But this takes time, effort and commitment from a company. Fortunately, it does work and it is worth it.
The question is – is your company ready for that level of commitment?
I have a different question: this is going on with or without company involvement. Is your company ready for no voice in the conversation, or are they willing to hear the voice of the people?
I now have the subject for my next blog post – Thank you Chris!
Hard to imagine come companies not wanting to be in the conversation but I guess there are those who still have their head in the sand. There has never been a better time to engage and really get to know your customers, why wouldn’t you pay attention?
2nd note, not to say that “college kids” are incapable of working on these things for companies, to do so would be presumptuous and condecending considering some of the great things they may accomplish but businesses also need to stop viewing social media as something “kids” do and thinking that hiring a college intern is the way to go to manage social media. Use them, give them experience by all means as a part of your business but in my experience most college students lack the basic business experience to know how to apply social media to YOUR business. Would you let an intern run your legal department?
[...] An interesting post today. Here’s a quick excerpt: Social media opens up a door. A door that isn’t so easy to close once it’s been open. It means a company is willing to commit to its customer in every way. Willing to accept all of the good and the bad comments the customer will make, … Read the rest of this great post Here [...]
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