Special guest post from Social Strategy1 Analyst, Rosa Perez.
Social media has become a tool that many people use to communicate their personal experiences, be it good or bad. Not all businesses have accepted social media into their workplace and many do not understand it at all.
Having worked thousands of mentions for multiple customers, I have witnessed first-hand the impact a company has on its customer base in regards to communication. Here’s what happened when a company failed to communicate:
- Company decided to consolidate their multiple websites into one.
- No alert was sent to customers.
- Customers went (or attempted) to the usual website and were then automatically and seamlessly redirected to the new website that was completely different from the one they were used to seeing; even the logo had changed.
- Customers shared their feelings regarding their experience and many negative mentions were found online regarding changes.
- Customers were confused, upset, and concerned because they had no idea what was going on.
- Some were upset about not being notified, others were confused about the new website as they were not aware there was a parent company at all.
- Also agents of the company were blind-sided and were concerned about their payments and if they’d be paid as usual.
Communicating with the customers could have taken little effort and could have avoided the negative buzz regarding this company’s brand online.
What people read online has an impact that could influence any decisions they are looking to make. If I was browsing online looking for experiences and opinions regarding this particular company, I would run across the negative chatter about the website change. I would most likely be turned off by reading the negative experiences of these upset customers. It is possible that all the positive chatter would convince me otherwise, but the impact has already been made.
I would be left asking myself, do I really want to do business with a company who cannot communicate with their customer base effectively? You decide.
