I know that the title of this column seems a little self-evident, but we have uncovered some new research that shows just how important social media has become to this topic.
American Express has done a study that looks at the amount of money people are willing to spend for excellent service, how many people clients tell about their experience and whether or not a purchase was cancelled because of poor customer service. In addition, these parameters were compared between the general population, people who have used social media for customer service and people who haven't used social media for this.
In a nutshell, people who use social media will tell significantly more people about their experiences with a business than the general population as a whole or people who don't use social media. This relates to BOTH good and bad service! Social media users will tell 53 people about poor service compared to just 24 among the general population. AND...social media users will tell 42 people about GOOD customer service compared to just the general population just telling 15 people.
Interestingly, 61% of Americans feel that businesses are not focused on providing better service.
Financially, people who use social media will spend 21% more for excellent customer service compared to just 13% in the general population or 11% among people not using social media. Also, a whopping 83% of people using social media have NOT completed a purchase because of poor customer service! This compares to 49% among non-social media users and 55% in the general population. Can you afford that?
So....what does this all mean for you? It is a wonderful opportunity to stand out and outshine other businesses in your area, but you need to be aware of what your clients and potential clients are seeing about you online.
We have discussed in the past the importance of "listening" and managing your online reputation. You can find those articles in our Media Training library at MyVNN.com. Mashable.com also has a
great article relating tips for responding online. I have summarized their thoughts here, but you can read the entire blog at their site.
First, it is important to be timely with your responses. This, again, highlights the importance of listening in social media. Respond to both good and bad postings so that you can show your involvement with your clients. One caveat...don't respond IMMEDIATELY to a bad review if you think your temper is going to get the best of you!!
Next, respond personally. Don't use someone's app or software to create auto-responses. Next time you speak with Dr. Jim...ask him about his experience with CenturyLink!
Sometimes it's best to let your practice manager or even some senior front desk people handle these situations. Not only are you, the veterinarian, often too busy, you also foster a sense of importance and teamwork by allowing your client service folks handle this sort of thing.
As hard as it is sometimes, you cannot allow yourself to pick fights or use an unprofessional tone when responding as your business online.
Likewise, don't get long-winded with your responses. As I have said multiple times, people just don't read paragraphs of information in a social media setting.
Finally...two of the most important things are to thank the client for providing feedback (which, in turn, will provide more feedback) and, of course, fix the issue if there is one. Don't be one of those companies that is hounded by the same issues over and over again.
In closing, please let me remind you that both Dr. Jim and I are happy to help you with any of this. If you are stuck with how to respond to a post, give us a call or email and we can help. We might be able to even engage more of our VNN members if it is a truly controversial subject!
Tom
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