Marketing departments damaging the customer experience as 70 per cent of social media complaints are ignored
21 May 2012
Too many companies still think of social media as a marketing communication tool and ignore the fact that it is now the preferred method for many customers to make complaints.
A.T. Kearney's Annual Social Media Survey has shown that 70 per cent of complaints are going un-answered simply because social media is not connected to the customer contact centre.
Speaking at a seminar hosted by contact centre optimisation specialists Datapoint, Martin Hill-Wilson of Brainfood Consulting said:
"The fact that so many brands are failing to recognise social media in their customer service strategies is a clear signal that they are finding it difficult to move beyond a simple broadcast mode of marketing to one based on dialogue. Social media is a two-way street - when you communicate your marketing message out to your customers, you had better be ready to listen to their reply; it will lose you business if you don't."
A stagnant economy has naturally led to many businesses deciding to reduce costs, delaying updates to their contact centres to include social media as a communication channel. This has kept the tool locked in the marketing department. While marketers were early adopters of the medium in the business world, they now lack the skills or resources to handle the direct communication from customers that they are now receiving.
Social media is still a minority player as a way for customers to complain, but it is growing fast and now accounts for between five and 20 per cent of total complaints to many organisations. Also, because a complaint can be seen by a huge number of people, the potential to damage a brand's reputation is significantly larger than other forms of communication used to complain. The power of a complaining customer is now massively expanded.
Jim Close, Managing Director of Datapoint, says:
"The delay in the use of social media in the contact centre is understandable, but this must now be rectified if many companies are to protect their reputations and keep their competitive edge.
"Software can be deployed that not only fully integrates social media into traditional complaint resolution channels, but that also forms part of a wider contact centre optimisation strategy. For example, peak times for complaints received via social media can differ from other communication channels and software can be used to plan staff allocation to meet these variations effectively.
"Social media tools are for two-way dialogue with customers as well as a (mostly) one-way marketing channel. They differ from more traditional media because often the interaction is globally-visible and there is potential for massive reputational impact. Songwriter Dave Carroll's song about United Airlines' negligence with his guitar demonstrates the possible impact if social media is not part of your contact centre strategy. The organisations that learn this lesson the fastest - and use contact centre systems to do this effectively - will be the ones that win the customer retention race."
About Datapoint
Datapoint is a specialist in enterprise and call centre communications infrastructure and applications. We help our customers to perfect communication - within their enterprise and with their customers. We call this CONTACT-OPTIMISATION.
Datapoint solutions make it easier for your customers to make sense of your business and enable you to increase customer satisfaction, grow relationships, boost revenues and motivate employees.
Vendor independent, but with strong relationships with the leading communications technology providers, our consultants, technology specialists and systems architects use their experience to help you define and implement solutions to your requirements.
Powered by our unique Katalyst third-generation platform and implemented by our managed services team, these solutions deliver true CONTACT-OPTIMISATION.
Our geographic footprint extends to serving 550 clients in 41 countries, including responsibility for supporting 5,000 sites in those territories. Globally, Datapoint is a member of the Intelligent Communications Alliance extending our reach to 9,000 locations worldwide.
Our main offices are in Barcelona, Dublin, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Utrecht.
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Editorial contacts:
Joanna Cannon / Edward Dodge
Spreckley Partners Ltd
T: 020 7388 9988
E: datapoint@spreckley.co.uk
