You mention the UA issue of the broken guitars video going viral, and that's a great one, but I think perhaps the Dell example of how they've turned their company around and have become a case study in customer service via social media is probably an example of turning social lemons into lemonade.
Were you to make a lot of noise about the furniture brand online, and the company were paying attention with a tool like SM2 or Radian6, then they would have seen that and responded quickly (and maybe even started a Twitter handle for customer service a la @comcastcares). I think that you actually should have made some real noise about the problem, regardless of who reads it, because if companies don't listen (as Dell and Comcast have) they will be failing to deliver real service to their customers.
And the next time someone else has the same experience as you did with the brand, you will have been part of the problem and not part of the solution. People really only write reviews about poor customer service in the traditional places, and people read those after they've been hurt because they want to warn others, not before to check out whether they will be hurt before they buy something.
Aaron Uhrmacher
· 4 months ago
Great points, Michael.
I agree with you in many respects. In fact, I previously wrote a post on Dell's fantastic use of social media (http://DISRUPTology.com/how-dell-generated-3-mi...). There are certainly many examples of companies who have listened and changed their behavior as a result of what they heard.
In this case, the company in question is a small business. I doubt that they conduct any proactive social media listening campaigns. They certainly don't have the budget for a Radian6-type service. And penalizing them here just seemed a bit harsh.
That being said, I did share a link to the post with the customer service representative and invited her (and her manager) to comment, even anonymously. As you can see, they haven't taken me up on this yet.
Thanks for commenting!
AmberNaslund
· 4 months ago
Sigh. I'm really sorry for your experience, Aaron. There's few things more frustrating than a lousy customer service experience. And it tries your patience in so many ways.
I know I sound like a broken record when I talk about the fundamental importance of listening. I know I must sound like a crazed evangelist sometimes. But this is exactly why. Companies that aren't paying attention, plain and simple, are losing business. Customers. Paying ones. And not just the ones that buy from them, but ALL the customers that those people tell and influence. We trust our friends not just to recommend the good stuff, but steer us away from the bad stuff.
I only hope that your cruddy experience gets the attention of someone over there, and perhaps encourages one more company to pay that much closer attention to the discussion happening around them.
Best, Amber Naslund Director of Community, Radian6 @ambercadabra
All Comments
Were you to make a lot of noise about the furniture brand online, and the company were paying attention with a tool like SM2 or Radian6, then they would have seen that and responded quickly (and maybe even started a Twitter handle for customer service a la @comcastcares). I think that you actually should have made some real noise about the problem, regardless of who reads it, because if companies don't listen (as Dell and Comcast have) they will be failing to deliver real service to their customers.
And the next time someone else has the same experience as you did with the brand, you will have been part of the problem and not part of the solution. People really only write reviews about poor customer service in the traditional places, and people read those after they've been hurt because they want to warn others, not before to check out whether they will be hurt before they buy something.
I agree with you in many respects. In fact, I previously wrote a post on Dell's fantastic use of social media (http://DISRUPTology.com/how-dell-generated-3-mi...). There are certainly many examples of companies who have listened and changed their behavior as a result of what they heard.
In this case, the company in question is a small business. I doubt that they conduct any proactive social media listening campaigns. They certainly don't have the budget for a Radian6-type service. And penalizing them here just seemed a bit harsh.
That being said, I did share a link to the post with the customer service representative and invited her (and her manager) to comment, even anonymously. As you can see, they haven't taken me up on this yet.
Thanks for commenting!
I know I sound like a broken record when I talk about the fundamental importance of listening. I know I must sound like a crazed evangelist sometimes. But this is exactly why. Companies that aren't paying attention, plain and simple, are losing business. Customers. Paying ones. And not just the ones that buy from them, but ALL the customers that those people tell and influence. We trust our friends not just to recommend the good stuff, but steer us away from the bad stuff.
I only hope that your cruddy experience gets the attention of someone over there, and perhaps encourages one more company to pay that much closer attention to the discussion happening around them.
Best,
Amber Naslund
Director of Community, Radian6
@ambercadabra