One of the articles in the August 2011 issue of Customer Interaction Solutions struck me as particularly interesting, “The (Social) Customer Isn’t Always Right” by Brendan Read.
The reason I found this article interesting, other than the fact I work in marketing for the call center industry and social media is a hot topic in both arenas right now, is his argument that invalid complaints are clouding social media.
I’ll be the first to admit, there are people out there that take advantage of companies and bend and break rules daily. Complaints from these customers, and complaints that say nothing other than “this company is horrible,” really aren’t worth focusing time and effort on. However, unless you see nothing but suspect complaints on a person’s Twitter feed or Facebook page how do you know their complaint is invalid and not worth pursuing?
From a customer satisfaction perspective, and from a brand management perspective, I would argue that until you see a particular individual taking advantage of your company’s goodwill in responding to social media comments, every complaint is worth pursuing. If for no other reason than the fact that other people will see the complaint and potential customers will see your response.
I’d also like to give a little credit to the “street smarts” of social media participants. People actively engaged in social media are very adept at weeding out, and ignoring, those that aren’t adding to the conversation. If a person uses social media to do nothing other than complain about one company after another people aren’t going to listen. This is where I agree with Brendan, those individuals aren’t worth wasting your company’s resources on.
As call center technology advances, it will be easier to weed out the invalid complaints and focus on the customers, and prospects, that are valuable over the long haul. Products like Cisco SocialMiner and real-time reporting solutions that incorporate social media feeds are well on their way to making social media management in the call center much easier.
What is your company’s policy on reaching out to customers through social media?

