(Editor’s Note: Today’s post is written by the National Business Research Institute (NBRI). They have over 30 years of experience in conducting scientific, psychological research for businesses. NBRI clients include Walt Disney World, Marriott Hotels, Oracle and Waste Management.)
Social Media is the New Word of Mouth
Why Your Customer Service Matters More than Ever
Unhappy customers are more likely to speak of their bad experience than happy customers are to talk about their good experiences. Word of mouth has now become word of Twitter or Facebook since nearly everyone uses social media. Potentially millions of consumers will read about it if one disgruntled customer Tweets or posts on Facebook about your bad customer service.
Here’s a real life example of how I used social media to express my distaste for a certain deli:
I recently picked up a to-go order from my favorite deli (which I won’t name). I took my first bite of what I was expecting to be a delicious turkey wrap and felt a strange texture in my mouth. I thought to myself, “This lettuce is really hard to bite through…” Once I looked at my wrap, I discovered the paper from the meat tray was wrapped up in it.
At first I was disgusted. But, then I realized it was just paper. It could have been worse – it could have been a Band-Aid. So, I unrolled it and took out the paper. I tried to finish eating it since it was a simple mistake, and the paper was part of the food packaging, anyway. But, I just couldn’t make myself eat the rest of it. I was too disturbed.
It reminded me of a surgeon leaving an instrument in someone’s body and then sewing them back up. I know, it’s not nearly the same, but that was the thought that came to mind. I Tweeted at the deli and sent them a picture of what shouldn’t be on the menu. To my surprise, they were quick to respond and apologized for their mistake. They even sent me a $15 gift card to come back! This is a perfect example of how to handle a customer service complaint: they listened, apologized, took responsibility, and remedied the situation.
I did end up telling a few people about the incident, but I also mentioned how quick they were to respond and how I received a gift card. The deli was able to turn a bad customer experience into a better one, and that’s the important part. Everyone makes mistakes, and since they handled the situation appropriately, I have no reason not to go back.
How can you fix what you’re not measuring?
You can’t. The deli would have never known my situation happened if I hadn’t taken the time to let them know about their mistake. However, plenty of my friends would have heard all about the incident. Now, the deli knows to pay closer attention so the same mistake doesn’t happen again. Unfortunately, many customers would not have taken the time to let the deli know about the mistake. They simply would have never returned. The deli would have lost a customer and would have never known why. The only way to know what you’re customers think about your customer service is to ask them. The recommended approach is to deploy a customer service survey to determine your baseline service scores. Then, resurvey periodically to gauge the effectiveness of your improvement initiatives. It costs five times more to attract a new customer than it does to retain an existing customer, so keep your customers satisfied by knowing what they want you to fix! Everyone is on social media, making it more important than ever to keep your customer service standards high and avoid a bad customer service reputation that could ruin your business.
Many thanks to NBRI for sharing their expertise. NBRI offers comprehensive full-service research solutions when it’s time to deploy employee surveys or customer surveys. If you’d like to learn more about their services, please visit their website, view an online survey demo or download their free ebook on “How to Conduct a Survey”.
