If you receive a support request in public, resolve it publicly.

Twitter is amazing. Scroll for a few minutes and you are likely to come across a tweet or two that makes you stop and think for a second.

I came across this earlier today:

67% of consumers have used a company’s social media for servicing, compared to 33% for social marketing.

That reminded me of the countless times we see brands respond to consumers’ queries and complaints with a templated “send us a note from your registered email” response. That’s a mistake.

#1. Prospective customers look for customer reviews. A lot.

So, by following this approach, all you are leaving them with is the knowledge that other customers have had issues with your product. What you did to address those issues, how long you took to resolve them, whether or not you were able to resolve them — those are all informations meaningful and important to the prospective customer, but he has no access to any of that.

So, all he has now is a sense of apprehension. The more such instances he comes across, the more intense the apprehension would get.

#2. Responses to customer queries, complains and suggestions is an undervalued marketing tool.

We all want to create a customer-centric company. Responding to customers’ messages demonstrates that.

It also helps cement your brand’s position as one that resolves issues and listens to its customers.

Remember, customers do not expect you or your product to be perfect. They know mistakes would be made. If they see you owning up to those mistakes and you making efforts to improve your product as well as service while learning from customer interaction, they would come to both appreciate and respect you for it.

So, be open about it. Talk about the challenges your existing customers are facing, and what you are doing to make things better.

Needless to say, exercise some discretion while doing this whole honesty/publicly bit. Customers’ info and other sensitive details need to be protected at all times. :-)