Pay Attention To Your Social Media

According to recent research conducted by The Northridge Group, a management consulting firm, 33% of those who contacted brands with a customer service question on social media never got a response. I have seen other studies that show up to 60% of complaints and questions went unanswered by US retailers. My first thought was seriously?! Bad news has always traveled more quickly than good news. With the digital access consumers have, and how a consumer who had a bad experience loves making mountains out of molehills because of the feel of anonymity the web provides, businesses should not give customers a reasons to discredit them. Social media is a two-way communication tool. It is not just for putting up pretty pictures and notices about events. Companies that don’t stay on top of their complaints and questions are exposing their poor service to everyone. This isn’t the good old days when consumers were surprised that a brand responded to their inquiry or complaint. Consumers expect a response! When you post a beautiful ring on your Facebook page and someone (because they will, of course) asks how much the ring is, you need to tell them! I realized that a lot of medium-sized businesses just are not equipped to deal with the volume of communication on social media. Businesses with just a few people on staff tend to rely on it to get their word out, so they spend quite a bit of time cultivating relationships on these mediums. Large corporations tend to have positions dedicated to this responsibility. Medium-sized businesses, like locally-owned retailers, just do not have the capacity to dedicate people to this. Owners are swamped with taking care of customers, handling vendors, doing inventory, placing orders, handling employees and paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. Unfortunately this is one more thing that needs to be done. Most respondents of the survey were adamant that unresponsive behavior like this would have either a lot or some effect on their decision to do business with a company. You just cannot afford to turn away customers before they even walk in your door. Contact us at suits@fruchtman.com and we can help you stay on top of your social conversations.