Ian Ryerson v2.3

Now that the year 2009 has come and gone and social media seems to be here to stay, one of the most important thing that I have learned from that year is Customer Service is more important then ever.

With the economy being in a slump and businesses cutting back every where they can, the one sector that needs more attention is customer service. Now that more and more people are getting used to using the “social media” outlets to vent not only their current status, but also their frustration and appreciation with certain businesses they frequent. With this new use of the internet businesses must stay on top of satisfying their customers. Those companies that have not yet started monitoring the internet for what their customers are saying about them are in danger of loosing future clients because of simple issues that never got resolved. The internet is making it possible for companies to stop complaints in their track simply by “listening” to their customers and helping them to resolve issues they may be having.

No longer is a simple comment box placed inside your business the way you gather feedback from customers. You need to be involved in social media, searching key words, and most importantly interacting with your customers. Everyone is starting to flock to these outlets to relay how they feel about certain business. Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, and Google are just some of these outlets being used for consumers to review businesses and their experience with them. It’s becoming so easy that most of it can be done right on your mobile device.

So now that all of this information is being released to the masses about how your customers feel about your operations it’s time to  face the facts and boost your customer service. In my opinion it’s becoming crucial for companies to monitor these outlets because it’s so easy for problems to go viral and and you may never know about it.

Treat your customers right and they will spread the good word, ignore what they have to say and don’t expect them to return.

Business that did it right in 2009

• Comcast (@comcastcares) – I have been contacted everytime I mention an issue with Comcast on Twitter they are quick to respond. They have even offered to schedule a technician to come out same day to fix my issue.
• Virgin America (@VirginAmerica) – Using both Facebook and Twitter to it’s fullest potential this is an airlines that knows customer service. Not only online but also in person. This is by far the most impressed I have been with a company and how great their customer service is.
• Dell (@Direct2Dell, @DellTechCenter, @DellOutlet) – Dell has many Twitter accounts ranging from Sales to Tech support. They have really done things right with allowing their customers to contact them via the web. With this also comes their marketing outlets about special promos and sales going on.