Week 3: Communicating via Socials with Brands

A customer's communication with a business can end up creating an evangelist for the company, or an enemy of the brand.  I recently booked a trip to Cabo San Lucas on Alaska Air.  I was hoping to bring my surfboard and I had read a blog post that Alaska was now only charging a regular baggage fee of $25 for a checked surfboard.  I wanted to confirm that the baggage fee was indeed this low so I called.  After a short wait of a few minutes, I was pleasantly surprised to be able to speak to a representative who clearly and pleasantly answered my question.  Conversely,  a few weeks ago, I called Intuit with a question I had regarding my subscription to Quickbooks Online.  I had called Intuit before with a technical question and had been pleasantly surprised with the high level of customer service and technical knowledge.  Unfortunately, on this call, I was connected with somebody who was difficult to understand, possibly due to a language barrier.  The most disappointing part of this call was that the woman helping me seemed to lack any real technical knowledge of the Quickbooks program.  During the call, I was frequently placed on hold while the woman followed up with her technical support team.  Considering this, I've concluded that the person that you're engaging is a truly important part of the company.

Social media certainly makes it easier to get noticed.  Since many people are already on the platform, having a social media presence makes it easier for a potential customer to interact with your brand, simply due to accessibility.  Social media also makes it easier to hold a brand accountable.  A dissatisfied customer can tag a company and then summarize their complaint in the form of a blog, photo, video, or other form of media.  Most successful brands are constantly monitoring their social media accounts and general internet presence, so a customer with a problem is more likely to have their issue addressed, rather than the company receiving a potential digital black eye.

Probably my most noteworthy experiences communicating with a business via social media was when one of my Instagram photos was noticed by the Maui Jims sunglasses brand.  The company messaged me and asked me if I would allow them to use my photo for their brand promotion.  I was flattered, however, the caveat was that Maui Jims had commented a URL with their terms, instructing me to tag #accept if I agreed.  Unfortunately, this URL was not in the form of a live link and I was unable to view their terms.  I wrote Maui Jim to follow-up, but was ignored.  The lesson to Maui Jims is: accessibility is paramount.  Furthermore, it's important to follow-up with somebody once you've engaged them, otherwise it's better to not engage them at all.  

I think that it's important to follow up on comments, whether positive or negative.  Following up would certainly depend on the volume of comments.  If there was a large quantity, I wouldn't try to reply to all of them, but instead, identify ones which I felt deserved a more thoughtful reply.  Importantly, if I were to reply to a negative comment, I would make sure to read the comment, then think about it before issuing a response.  It is important to avoid a battle of raw emotions.  

I applaud businesses who are at the vanguard of social media, as truly, a digital presence is paramount.