Web Simple

A recent study profiled by Research Brief provided some though-producing statistics. The study, done by American Express, found:

• 91% of Americans consider the level of customer service important when deciding to do business with a company, but only 24% believe companies value their business and will go the extra mile to keep it
• 81% of Consumers are far more likely to give a company repeat business after a good service experience, while 52% are unlikely to do business with a company again after a poor experience
• 48% feel companies are helpful but don’t do anything extra to keep their business

As I mentioned in my last piece, the objective of social media for business should be relationship building. The American Express study leads me to add a touch more to that opinion…social media for business should be about building a strong customer service relationship.

Think about it; isn’t social media—from social networking, to micro blogging, to chats—the perfect medium for helping a customer believe a company values their business? The investment by the company can be pretty small (it’s certainly less than a 30 second spot in prime time telling me you are all about customer service!) and the potential interaction with the customer powerfully intimate.

For example, say I buy a shiny new LCD TV from Best Buy. On check out, instead of asking me to go to Bestbuy.com to fill out an online survey on my experience today (you bet!), maybe the clerk gives me the address (or signs me up!) for a chat group where I can get real-time help during set up. Or, maybe she asks if “Sally” from Customer Service can contact me via Facebook, Twitter, Tick-it or some other forum to see how things are going. If I accept an invitation from “Sally,” the brand-customer relationship has now moved from the immeasurable to the measurable, the catalyst being my interest in customer service via digital means.  

As marketing staffs thrash about trying to create the perfect campaign for social media—one with a measurable ROI of course!—why not take a second to ask what your team might be able to accomplish with social media that shows current customers you value their business and demonstrates your customer service is tops among your competitors?

© 2010, nunndog. All rights reserved.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Horizon, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.