Through the years I have had a couple of occasions where I
was very unhappy with a particular company. Beginning with Customer Service I
had to work my way up through their chain of command until I was able to talk
to someone who would 1. listen and 2. solve the problem.
Today it’s not that easy.
With the exception of a few companies, I don’t think businesses care
about customer service as much as they used to and it has, often times, been my
experience that the employees representing the companies don’t care that much
either.
I have never used social media but I have heard stories
about people using negative comments on their Facebook page, or Twitter for
example to generate attention to a problem. It seems to work, rather than have
all the adverse press the company will respond by fixing the problem. And the opposite seems to be true as well.
When there is a crisis people can generate a tremendous response using social
media.
My observation of social media is that you can reach large numbers of people in a very short amount of time and businesses know this and will react.
My observation of social media is that you can reach large numbers of people in a very short amount of time and businesses know this and will react.
Having to wait extended amounts of time while your trying to ask a business a small question can creates a lot of distrust for me. If a business is unwillling to take the time to help me when I have a question; I know if everything goes wrong they will certainly not be there when I need them the most. I agree with you that most companies do not care about customer service as much when they reach a certain level.
ReplyDeleteFor a small business its more common to find good customer service, This is because every customer counts where as for a bigger company it doesn't matter as much. I know many companies at a certain point outsource customer service to other companies to handle the claims that come through. This is a road I have recently came across and chose to keep our customer support INhouse for now and continue to stay engaged with our customer care.
Good article and valid points on reaching businesses through social media avenues.