Week III Pt I: Business-Client Communications on Social Media
Personally, the only difficult experiences I've had communicating with businesses involved hour-long waits on the phone and unwanted mail ads. Every suburban is familiar with these simple nuisances, but increasingly common are difficulties communicated not through phone or by mail, but on social media. There are two sides to the coin of communicating with businesses through social media.
In cases like that of Dr. Wendi Wardlaw of Stoneybrook Dental (outlined in Dave Kerpen's Likeable Social Media), outreach to a business online can have fast and unexpectedly positive benefits, even to something as precious as personal health. After reaching out to a patient who posted complaints about discomfort, Dr. Wardlaw was able to quickly refer her to a local hospital where an otherwise untreated infection was instantly dealt with. In this case, communication was anything but difficult, and resulted in immeasurable value for business and client alike.
While this example highlights the ease of using social media to get a problem noticed and solved, there is also incredible difficulty solving problems on businesses' ends. Not to be overlooked are the hoards of negative reviews left on sites like Yelp and Google. Some feedback may be as easy to find as reviews on Yelp, and some as difficult to control as private Facebook posts. Andrew Thomas estimates in his article for Inc.com that it can take up to "four five-star reviews to make up for each one-star review". Talk about difficulties getting problems solved, that is, on the business's end.
Nonetheless, businesses that have the self-awareness to deal with reviews usually do so through social media, going so far as to reward clients for leaving positive reviews, or even paying hefty fees to delete negative ones. As a business owner, I would rest easy knowing that there are a disproportionate amount of vengeful consumers who find any reason to leave a negative review than compassionate consumers who take time out of their day to leave a positive one. With that inherent ratio in mind, it would be easier to dismiss the bad and focus on the good.
In fact, if it were my own business, I would take the advice of Dave Kerpen and consistently engage with my clients through unpaid venues like keyword searches, comments, and posts, especially on Facebook and Twitter. Due to my own lack of outreach, I have no experience communicating with businesses through social media, but I am familiar with the serendipity of hearing back from encouragement sent out to musicians and designers on Instagram. What seems like a far cry of appreciation against the wind can shatter the imaginary digital boundary when a young kid gets a response from their favorite music group or an inspiring influencer they follow on social media. The same applies to larger-than-life corporations, where a simple response can often result in brand loyalty galore.
Still, the line is thin between addressing and denouncing feedback from the customer, which can quickly turn into a publicity nightmare. For this reason, negative feedback is best dealt with directly and privately so as to solve the problem in the least overbearing manner possible. Meanwhile, positive feedback should be publicly encouraged and rewarded, as its momentum can be snowballed through the masses. Offering rewards to loyal fans is a proven way of not only keeping current clients, but especially of winning new ones. Dave says it best: "The average person on Facebook has around 350 friends. So even if you have only 100 people who like your page to begin with, [a post] seen only by friends of connections has a target audience of roughly 35,000 people."
In summary, my personal experience communicating with businesses through social media is limited to the few positive experiences I've had reaching out to kind artists. While social media presents its own new set of challenges, it undoubtedly makes it much easier for business and customer alike to solve their problems with one another. In my own business, I would make sure to follow Kerpen's advice as if it were the Ten Commandments. His tactics leverage the power of personal connection to amplify positive feedback, while professionally mitigating any negative. Still, the industry is young, and we all have much to learn!
In cases like that of Dr. Wendi Wardlaw of Stoneybrook Dental (outlined in Dave Kerpen's Likeable Social Media), outreach to a business online can have fast and unexpectedly positive benefits, even to something as precious as personal health. After reaching out to a patient who posted complaints about discomfort, Dr. Wardlaw was able to quickly refer her to a local hospital where an otherwise untreated infection was instantly dealt with. In this case, communication was anything but difficult, and resulted in immeasurable value for business and client alike.
While this example highlights the ease of using social media to get a problem noticed and solved, there is also incredible difficulty solving problems on businesses' ends. Not to be overlooked are the hoards of negative reviews left on sites like Yelp and Google. Some feedback may be as easy to find as reviews on Yelp, and some as difficult to control as private Facebook posts. Andrew Thomas estimates in his article for Inc.com that it can take up to "four five-star reviews to make up for each one-star review". Talk about difficulties getting problems solved, that is, on the business's end.
Nonetheless, businesses that have the self-awareness to deal with reviews usually do so through social media, going so far as to reward clients for leaving positive reviews, or even paying hefty fees to delete negative ones. As a business owner, I would rest easy knowing that there are a disproportionate amount of vengeful consumers who find any reason to leave a negative review than compassionate consumers who take time out of their day to leave a positive one. With that inherent ratio in mind, it would be easier to dismiss the bad and focus on the good.
In fact, if it were my own business, I would take the advice of Dave Kerpen and consistently engage with my clients through unpaid venues like keyword searches, comments, and posts, especially on Facebook and Twitter. Due to my own lack of outreach, I have no experience communicating with businesses through social media, but I am familiar with the serendipity of hearing back from encouragement sent out to musicians and designers on Instagram. What seems like a far cry of appreciation against the wind can shatter the imaginary digital boundary when a young kid gets a response from their favorite music group or an inspiring influencer they follow on social media. The same applies to larger-than-life corporations, where a simple response can often result in brand loyalty galore.
Still, the line is thin between addressing and denouncing feedback from the customer, which can quickly turn into a publicity nightmare. For this reason, negative feedback is best dealt with directly and privately so as to solve the problem in the least overbearing manner possible. Meanwhile, positive feedback should be publicly encouraged and rewarded, as its momentum can be snowballed through the masses. Offering rewards to loyal fans is a proven way of not only keeping current clients, but especially of winning new ones. Dave says it best: "The average person on Facebook has around 350 friends. So even if you have only 100 people who like your page to begin with, [a post] seen only by friends of connections has a target audience of roughly 35,000 people."
In summary, my personal experience communicating with businesses through social media is limited to the few positive experiences I've had reaching out to kind artists. While social media presents its own new set of challenges, it undoubtedly makes it much easier for business and customer alike to solve their problems with one another. In my own business, I would make sure to follow Kerpen's advice as if it were the Ten Commandments. His tactics leverage the power of personal connection to amplify positive feedback, while professionally mitigating any negative. Still, the industry is young, and we all have much to learn!
Zach, I enjoyed reading your well-written, insightful, and thorough post. Even though you haven't had difficulty communicating with businesses on social media, you have a good understanding of how it works. I agree with your assessment about addressing feedback from a customer. It can create negative publicity if not handled correctly. Whenever I respond to a customer on Yelp, I keep it short and simple. I only have one negative review, and it's actually for the previous owner. Even so, I knew the importance of remaining professional and sympathetic.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this, I like your reference to the book which many of us failed to do. I like how you keep attention to the details, Businesses must be self aware because they can think they're doing great until they read their own reviews.
ReplyDelete