It has been found in recent studies that around 80% of the companies think that they are providing great customer services, but in actuality only 8% of the paying customers agree to it. Discontented customers are usually the most vocal and often write the most unique and offensive things on Facebook.
In spite of this, many companies avoid their duties on social media. In fact, a recent survey showed that 20% of the companies don’t even respond at all to the customer complaints on social media. Perhaps they don’t have enough wisdom to handle the comments, or they don’t realize the fact that their lack of attention to the social media can do serious harm to their reputation. In either case, the consequences can be dramatic.
Social media has given a whole new dimension to the customer service. Though companies may still try to push people to customer support hotlines or emails, they now have Twitter, Facebook, and many other platforms to share their voices.
Now the question is: Why there is a need of responding to customer complaints on social media platforms? Let’s see.
1. Customers use your social profile page to scrutinize your products and services. Social media platforms have become a research tool for informed consumers. They go to your profile page and check the comments about your brand. If they find anything opposing, you may lose potential customers without even knowing about it.
2. Disgruntled customers grow more disgruntled. If the complaints made on social sites are not addressed in a timely manner, customers feel more negative towards your brand and may even share their dissatisfaction, as a result.
3. Dissatisfied customers can create a domino effect. Unhappy customers can make others to come out of the shadow, creating a long thread of complaints on your page. This can actually go viral, reaching to the potential customers. These customers can see the complaints and express concern about the product or service they are using or may want to use. If the things go out of control, damage can be big. A simple response can make things right.
4. You should meet your customers where they are. Although, as irritating it might be to devote time to social media, especially when you have got established channels for customer support; it’s really important, primarily because they own a significant amount of customers. Not dealing with these customers is like doing a disservice for yourself.
5. Loss of revenue. Not answering customer queries query in a timely manner results in that customer leaving right away. A loss of potential customer means loss of revenue.
6. Loss of reputation. This is perhaps the biggest loss of all. Transparent and relevant responses on these platforms matter a lot to current and future customers. Not giving such responses mean you are not competent enough and results in a loss of reputation.
The amount of time and human resources spent to this task will directly depend on the number of customer complaints you get and the nature of your business. The first and most important thing is to start and then you can take your service to the next level as the things move.
