The Death of Customer Service
Further back in the day you could walk in your local store, shake someone’s hand, and get a trusted opinion on a product or service. That is to say, you could make a genuine connection to an individual and form a bond of trust. When such a bond exists, a relationship is born and forms customer loyalty. The product/service had a face, a reputation, a person (or people) that made an investment of their name and integrity to the product offered.
Then, the era of the Big Box stores came. Mass-marketing, market hype and a one-size-fits-all approach was born and fed to customers. Society gradually changed to encourage this sort of business/consumer transaction. But, that’s all it could ever become- a transaction. A soulless, empty transaction, with no honest opinion or expertise on products or services, and almost always with a disconnect between the actual provider of goods and the one making the sale.
Take the outsourcing of telephone customer service, for example. In exchange for a one-size-fits-all cheap solution, you have a bottom-dollar approach to “customer care” that sees the customer more aggravated than taken care of. Customer service was dying a slow, horrible death, and we all began to expect a lack of personal investment from telephone reps, sales clerks, and service desks around the country.
The inconvenience was then used and amplified by hiding customer care channels, hiding telephone numbers, and making the consumer do all of the work in order to further deter them from wading through the massive obstacle course. Only the most infuriated customers could make it through, onto more massive headaches. As you read this, I bet you already have a couple of instances in mind of when this happened to you!
These companies have failed to understand that spending money to take care of your customers costs quite a bit less than losing that customer’s loyalty, and therefore, their business.
The Rebirth of Customer Service
With social media growing and taking more of the spotlight, the public’s hunger for a true and lasting connection with the businesses they choose to have in their lives is becoming paramount. Society is changing again. We’ve hungered for that lost connection with our services. Customers need to know someone at their preferred company cares, is listening to them, and takes their concerns seriously. Social media has wasted no time in breaking down these walls!
For years now, people have been airing their complaints on blogs, review sites and now Twitter and Facebook. You will find stories across the Web about call after call, letter after letter being brick walled and stymied in hopes of the customer giving up. But, when they decided to involve the public of their frustration, and give the company bad press? You better believe they jump into action!
Over the years, we’ve seen ongoing development of this. Dell now has @DellCares on Twitter, and they have actually built their own “Social Command Center” in Texas to monitor and respond to complaints 24/7. Your cell phone provider, your Internet service provider, your vehicle manufacturer… they’re all getting on board, because they realize that they have to protect their reputation.
This is further proof that customers want their personal connection back. People want to be treated as people, not numbers. They want to know you care and will be there to service their need in quick, professional manner. Social media provides that avenue better than ever.
The Best Part
If you execute your social media strategy right, you are making sure your customers questions are answered and their needs are met in a kind and courteous manner. The good press can spread across the social networks just like bad press can. When customers are researching you, all across the Web, these results, good reviews, Twitter postings, and evidence of your goodwill will be displayed to all current and potential customers. Point them out as success stories! Post them on your wall. Word-of-mouth spreads quicker now than it ever has!
The Takeaway
Word-of-mouth is back. Social media allows for organic, real connection for people to your business 24/7. Your business’s reputation is its health. Let your customers know you care by not only creating social media accounts and pages, but by investing and managing them with a well-considered and solid social media strategy.
8 comments
Donna Maria Coles Johnson says:
April 16, 2011 at 9:36 AM (UTC -4 )
Wonderful reminders here! I am reading “Delivering Happiness” with the INDIE Business Book Club, and we are studying the foundations of excellent customer service so we can put them to work to serve our customers better. One lesson Tony learned is never to outsource your core functions. Those functions will be different for each business and it takes focus and consistent effort to nail down exactly what they are as a business evolves. It may even change some over time. I have an assistant who helps me manage customer service by phone and email. I also use technology, including social media. But either way, I am very close to the process because it matters so much. Thanks for this great commentary on an important topic.
Eric Figgins says:
April 17, 2011 at 11:04 PM (UTC -4 )
Thanks, Donna! I believe that a business has to have character, and a living breathing persona… it is an extension of us much like a tool (hammer or saw) would be an extension of our arm. I’m not sure that one could outsource the character of one’s business without compromising it.
Becky says:
April 17, 2011 at 4:12 PM (UTC -4 )
Eric, this is a great commentary and is spot on about what people really want. I saw a local news piece this week about a small town drugstore that still has a functional soda fountain. The owner said that people come from all kinds of places and bring their children to experience this firsthand. They went on to highlight the personal attention that customers get, and even though they COULD choose to go to a franchise store now, they prefer the intimate, personal, and personable feeling of the small-time business. Pretty well sums up “social” whether it’s face-to-face or online.
Eric Figgins says:
April 17, 2011 at 11:04 PM (UTC -4 )
Becky, thanks!
This is a perfect example, and it warms the heart to see that in this hustle and bustle, people are starting to appreciate a connection again.
Karl Sly says:
April 19, 2011 at 6:38 PM (UTC -4 )
Word of mouth is king in all advertising and marketing spectrum’s. If you give people something worth sharing they’ll share it. it’s a simple concept, that will work for any business. Forming an implementable and targeted social media strategy around value will get you there.
Nice post!
Eric Figgins says:
April 20, 2011 at 9:54 AM (UTC -4 )
Thanks for the post, Karl. I agree! Word-of-mouth is genuine, and it just plain works. The buzz social media can make is simply incredible!! It’s like nothing before.
Jay Rockman says:
April 20, 2011 at 3:58 PM (UTC -4 )
You have pointed out one of the most important benefits of social media. Most business owners don’t even know that people are talking about their brand online — in many different places. Web monitoring services will become increasingly popular.
Great post!
Eric Figgins says:
April 21, 2011 at 12:16 PM (UTC -4 )
I agree Jay! It’s all about the – positive – buzz.