In A Little Secret About Social Media, I shared results of the 2014 Voice of the Customer Challenges and Practices Survey recently conducted by MaritzCX. I focused on a rather interesting finding that having an effective method of monitoring social media—in and of itself—is not strongly related to VoC program success, at least not when the measure of success is an organization’s ability to use the VoC to drive actual improvements in customer satisfaction and retention.
Still, it is quite clear that organizations will continue to invest in monitoring social media to understand and deliver or co-create better customer experiences. So, how can these organizations ensure they get the most from their investments in social media monitoring?
For starters, they can use social media to identify opportunities to manage relationships with individual customers. Results of the 2014 VoC Challenges and Practices Survey reveal that, among firms that have been very successful in using the VoC to drive improved customer satisfaction and retention, sixty-four (64) percent use social media to manage relationships with individual customers. In firms that have not been successful in using the VoC to improve customer satisfaction, that number is only thirty-two (32) percent.
Using social media to manage relationships with individual customers is a practice that contributes to VoC program effectiveness. That’s why companies increasingly are thanking and creating advocates among customers who have posted about positive experiences. They also are acknowledging and trying to “make things right” with customers who have shared negative experiences.
As I tried to point out in Going the Wrong Way with Social Media, firms should fully embrace the insights and opportunities furnished by consumer posts and tweets. For example, if a customer shares a negative experience, don’t “go through the motions” with perfunctory replies like:
“We are sorry to learn about your disappointment with the service you received from our staff. We have forwarded your comments to our leadership team in order to make needed changes and improvements."
Gee, thanks. I feel better already.
Such a reply does little or nothing of substance for the customer who took the time to share his/her experience publicly. If received by that customer via email or some other “off-line” correspondence, such a reply probably will only reinforce his/her negative perception of your brand. If posted on a website, it very well may breed cynicism about your brand among hundreds, if not thousands of readers, who are current or potential customers.
Getting the most from social media requires real attention and response to consumer posts regardless of whether the content is what you want or hope to hear. If you want to build brand trust and loyalty, be transparent. If you want to build good will with individual consumers, address and respond to their concerns in a substantive manner.
In addition to using social media to manage individual customer experiences and relationships, another very powerful practice is to integrate social media with other VoC data sources to build a comprehensive perspective of the customer experience, and to set priorities for improvement. I’ll discuss this practice in my next blog, so please stay tuned.