Week 3A - Communication Between Businesses & Customers

Have you ever experienced difficulty communicating with a business?

     In the past I have always found it difficult to communicate with businesses, no matter what sector or field that the business is in.  You would have to call and hope that you will at least reach a person to talk to and then you would have to hope that the customer service rep either is competent enough to understand the situation or hope that the rep even cares. You would get the dreaded phrase, "Okay, I will pass that along, thank you for calling." Oh please!

     If you are like me then you hate talking on the phone because the call quality is never that clear and I don't like being put on hold. So originally I liked the idea of the customer service email but often times responses can take days and I feel like you're just emailing a distant customer service galaxy where not one, not two and sometimes not three replies will get you anywhere. I might as well take out my frustrations on a donut and forget the whole thing.

     Of course, there are people that complain just to complain and every company has their policies and procedures but I think most people don't make a fuss about things unless it's worth their time.

Does social media make it easier to get noticed or get your problem solved?

     I would say yes and no and it may depend on the media platform. If the review is on yelp or google where a local business gets a direct review then I believe that social media helps to get noticed or solve a problem because that information is now public about a specific business location. If you start tweeting or posting on FB about a business and it doesn't gain any traction then I would say that social media probably won't help you there. Although some companies are really good about posting responses. For some reason Wendy's comes to mind as a company that has a great social media presence and you may get noticed when talking about them.

Have you ever had a positive experience communicating with a business through social media?

     I have never communicated with a business through social media. There was one time where I searched high and low for a place to leave feedback for a Sonic Burger joint because the teenage worker forgot to put a burger patty on my burger! I'm still salty over that... I didn't notice until I got home after a long day at work and I was looking forward to biting in to a juicy burger and all I got was bread, lettuce and cheese. The only thing I could find was a corporate email so I left a nasty note there and they apologized, provided an explanation of the end result of an investigation and mailed me a coupon. I guess that was a good response.

If it was your own business on social media, how would you respond to positive or negative comments?

     If my business was on social media, I would definitely say thank you to every positive comment and maybe plug a small marketing strategy like an invitation to an upcoming event or something. If the comment was negative I would still say thank you because every one likes to feel appreciated and I would offer a solution to the problem or say that I will learn from that mistake or something to that effect. Sometimes people post negative reviews about the business even though the post or problem has nothing to do with the business such as maybe they didn't like the people they were next to. In that case my response may be a little sassy and you can't please everyone.

Describe what made your experience negative or positive.

     For me, every time a business goes beyond the initial point of contact (phone call, email, post, etc.) to solve the problem or show me that they took me seriously is a positive experience. I don't expect to be put on a golden throne but at least show me you, as a business, care a little. That may mean a subsequent email or reply to a post that contains a meaningful answer or solution.