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.