Customer Service in 2012 Means Social Interaction

Posted by: Matthew Bick // February 22nd, 2012

One of the very first things that customer service representatives are taught is to listen.  However, the majority of today’s “speaking” is no longer occurring vocally.  Instead, compliments and criticisms alike are found with much greater frequency through social media.

Trish Forant posted on Radian6’s blog on January 12th giving a short list of some of the best ways to harness social listening for purely customer service purposes.  As Forant writes, “Treat each piece of information as a gift, because that’s exactly what it is. You’re getting valuable insight straight from the people who matter most – your customers.”  In the same way that every customer phone call is a chance to learn more about and better serve the customer, every social interaction provides the same opportunity.

@MatthewBick

Read More 0

One-third of Consumers Rate Satisfaction With Branded Social Media Sites as Poor

Posted by: Neil James // January 16th, 2012

The wall that separated many brands from their customers was often thick and impenetrable. A company who truly wished to avoid its customers at one time enjoyed many options:  overburdened call centers, unmanned wewanttohelpyoubutnotreally@company.com e-mail addresses and unempowered front-line employees.

Social media, however, has reconstructed that membrane in a way that’s much more permeable. Dissatisfied consumers can now register their complaints in forums far more public and permanent. Brands who at one time could simply call the police when a customer vandalized the side of their building or became belligerent in the lobby find there is simply not enough law enforcement available to keep those troublesome miscreants off of their Facebook page and Google Places accounts.

Increasingly, evidence suggests that brands shouldn’t cede the social media asylum to the inmates either. According to a brand new survey by Conversocial, nearly nine in ten individuals reported they would be at least somewhat less likely to buy anything from a company if they saw unanswered customer questions or complaints. Conversocial also reports that most consumers aren’t enamored with how their favorite brands choose to operate within social media; nearly one-third rated the way in which companies use social media sites to communicate with their customers as either poor or very poor. Sixty percent, however, expressed guarded optimism for future positive developments in the field of social customer relations.

@NeilAndrewJames

Read More 0

Reasons to Practice Social Monitoring Now

Posted by: Neil James // January 11th, 2012

Ever tried to put together a focus group? It’s a lot of work. Rounding up the participants, getting everything organized, hiring a moderator, and that’s before anybody even walks in the room. Therein lies the beauty of social monitoring programs – brands now have the ability to conduct focus groups 24 hours a day, seven days a week! According to Harris Interactive, one-quarter of Americans are talking about companies, brands or products online.

Denise Keller discusses the reasons your brand should explore a social monitoring program right now in a new article for Social Media Today, The Top 7 Reasons You Should Implement Social Media Intelligence. While citing the obvious benefits of a social monitoring program – unearthing new consumer insights and reputation management – for Keller, the ability to identify qualified leads and prospects is the top reason for launching a robust monitoring program.

@NeilAndrewJames

Read More 0

Social Media at the Forefront of Product Innovation

Posted by: Mark Palony // April 4th, 2011

Social Media at the Forefront of Product Innovation

Andrei Hagiu is an associate professor in Harvard Business School’s strategy group and he and I are in agreement that social networks can be used by companies to aid product innovation. Not only can they, some, like Dell, already have.

The internet gives you 24/7 access to your market and, therefore, to what they think about your industry and even, perhaps, the products and services offered by you and your competitors.  Listening closely to this perpetual focus group will give you insights that you can get no other way. Not to mention you’ll have the opportunity to see market trends as they take shape. That, my friends, is a tremendous competitive advantage.

Imagine driving product innovation by paying attention to what people are saying on social networks. On second thought, there’s no need to imagine because it’s already happening.

@MarkPalony

Read More 1

Most Brands Have No Plan For Online Negative Feedback

Posted by: Neil James // February 8th, 2011

Most Brands Have No Plan For Negative Online Feedback

Most marketers and executives, even if their social media strategy is in the formative or non-existent phase, understand that people talk about them online. Unfortunately, even recognizing how powerful these online conversations are with respect to their business, according to a new article from eMarketer, How Do Your Social Monitoring Efforts Stack Up, most brands handle negative buzz with the grace and poise of a stammering teenager. In a survey of 237 North American IT Professionals who monitor their brand online, nearly eighty percent report their company has no formal process for dealing with negative feedback on e-commerce sites. Three in four report similarly report no formal process for inappropriate social comments from employees!

@NeilAndrewJames

Read More 0

Does Your Brand Stutter During Online Conversations?

Posted by: Neil James // December 28th, 2010

Uh-oh. Your social media strategy was going perfectly. What you didn’t plan on was that loudmouth customer who won’t stop telling people about a bad experience with your sales staff. Here’s one response that’s guaranteed to exacerbate the situation: “uh, well, um, b-b-b-but…” Far too often, when they need to exercise poise, eloquence and confidence, brands stutter. Why? Donald Friedman has an explanation, and as chronicled in his article for Adweek, Mumbling Louder Is Not a Branding Strategy, it begins at a higher level. Friedman argues that even though its associates are harder at work than ever before, an absence of purpose and mission hangs over their labors like a cloud. Because they don’t have this organizational foundation to draw from, tactics that require quick, decisive action (such as managing social identities) suffer. While noting that brands will never truly be able to control the conversation, by ensuring that your organization and its employees have and understand a clear and crisp raison d’etre, your brand can more capably shape and influence online buzz.

@NeilAndrewJames

Read More 0