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Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Week 3 - Part 1 - Communication Between Business & Customer

Have you ever experienced difficulty communicating with a business? I once purchased a hand-held Dirt Devil so I could more easily vacuum my stairs and clean out my car.  On the box was an illistrated bubble that said “New longer lasting lithium battery!” But even after I fully charged the battery, when unplugged from the wall, the fully charged battery only lasted about 90 seconds! I purchased it at Walmart, but I couldn’t return it there, they would only let me do an even exchange.  I exchanged the vacuum 3 times and the same thing happened every time! It was such a hassle! I still have Dirt Devil #4 because the thought of dealing with contacting Dirt Devil and paying to ship it back to them is an inconvenience.

I believe social media makes it easier to get noticed by a business, especially when you present a problem or complaint about a product or service.  I personally have never communicated with a business through social media. However, I have responded to many of our clients or prospective clients who comment on our posts or sent us private messages inquiring about our services.  A few times I reviewed businesses on their social media pages and I that's a very useful tool when customers give accurate ratings. 

In business, I believe it’s important to respond to every comment a client makes on social media. It’s important for a client to know there is someone on the receiving end of their comment, they are being heard, and will receive a timely and thoughtful response. If it is a positive comment, I would thank them for the comment as well as mention how it was a pleasure to work with them, and add something to personalize the message specific to that client. If someone made a negative comment regarding my business, I would still respond respectfully. I want the client to know that we take our job seriously and it is always our goal to go above and beyond exceeding expectations. Depending on the comment, I might clarify the situation in detail, respectfully and thoroughly, explaining actions taken to fulfill our responsibilities to the client and actions taken that were beyond our responsibility. If something in a transaction went wrong and it was at the fault of our business, we would take full responsibility. 

In responding to a comment on social media, my hope would be that the client, as well as anyone who reads my response will have a greater understanding of the bigger picture.  Since I am in real estate we cannot offer a replacement product or refund, in some businesses this may be appropriate. I believe what makes one’s experience either positive or negative when communicating with a business through social media is the timeliness of a response, whether or not the issue at hand is addressed, and whether or not the company takes responsibility for their part in a situation. 

2 comments:

  1. That’s such a good point that when responding to comments, you not only show the person you’re responding to that you care and are willing to fix the issue, but it shows anyone else who sees the comments that you’re a business that cares as well. I feel like it CAN be easier to get noticed due to social media, but not in all instances due to the huge number of comments and messages some businesses get. Great post!!

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  2. Yes! The timeline of the response is super important, I'm glad you mentioned that. When the situation gets handled appropriately and effectively to time I am more likely to understand wants going on than get more and more angry that they think customer service inst important and respond in a few days. Awesome responses super well thought out :)

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