If you operate either a brick and mortar or an online business, you’d do yourself some good by having a Twitter account associated with your business. Why you might ask? Because this account can be used to develop personal relationships with not only your customers but also enables you to grow your online presence. One other benefit that using Twitter provides is the ability to right a wrong.
What the web has enabled customers to do so easily now a days is to speak out against a bad customer service experience or, simply moan and complain about a product or service. Companies that are in the know should have someone dedicated to watching their online presence to monitor situations in which someone has a bad experience. For example, the other day on Twitter, I had mentioned that Ustream.TV sucked because none of the videos as well as the chatrooms ever loaded for me. A few minutes later, I received a reply from a Ustream support representative through Twitter. I discussed my issues with them which were then handled on the Ustream site. As it turns out, I helped Ustream discover a weird anomaly that was only seen a few times before. I worked directly with a customer support representative and resolved the issue.
A few minutes after that, I sent out a Tweet apologizing for my rant against the service and then commended them. Not only did they turn a wrong into a right, but this was all done in the public’s eye. Using email is ok, so is phone support, but with immediate action taking by Ustream using a service such as Twitter, they were able to convince me that they care not only about what people say about their service in the public lime light, but also about customer service.
To make a long story short, use services like Twitter to monitor what the public is saying about your business. Try to right wrongs and do your best to offer personal care and support. Turning a wrong into a right can really boost the positive word of mouth effect such as the case with me and Ustream. As a business, using services like Twitter to leverage your customer service experience can only be a good thing. It’s great for businesses and even better for consumers. A win-win situation.