Discussed Or Disgust
A decision commands the enterprise to take action each time someone posts a message online about your business. While it is very easy to control what happens behind closed doors (i.e. phone), it is out there for all to see when a Twitter post or YouTube comment is sent. What is your stance, or… to be more specific, the stance of the business when making the decision to answer (or not answer) back? While there are those within your organization that are of the opinion that answering public inquiries can only be a positive, there may be C-level executives who may not feel the same way… but this is changing. Consider if someone contacted you at a local outing or conference and asked about a particular part of your business or product-line. Would you simply ignore their mention of your business (which may turn out to be a gain to your enterprise)? Whether we buy it or not, this is what is occurring each time someone takes the time to write your firm and gets no response. The Good Positive sentiment or affirmations about your business’ people, places or things should be a no-brainer as far as engaging back. We are all busy people and the ones who take time out of their lives to spend a minute or two singing the praises of your business rightly deserve the same treatment… at the very least. “But that is not what our company does… there is no good in answering people back on social media”. This philosophy holds about as much truth as the snout of Pinocchio, but yet there are businesses which continue to hold on to dear life with this way of thinking. It only takes a couple of leaders within your enterprise to change this course of action, and the change is not a difficult undertaking. A learning process, yes… but no challenging than when your firm was first tasked with the prospect of answering back on email. With social media however, everyone can potentially see the evidence of your business’ silence. An opportunity is an opportunity. Period. If someone writes a brief message about how they enjoyed your staff-member’s help, or passed on the positive advice they heard from a colleague on the merits of your organization’s services,giving a toss back to them in kind could take root and grow future business at a later time. On the other side of the equation, a zero amount of effort (ignorance) will almost certainly have a negative outcome. Not immediately felt in the pocketbook of the business perhaps, but as there is no middle-ground in business, the only direction is down. The Bad Expecting all good all the time is a myth, but the non-positive feedback can present opportunities so long as one is prepared to deal with it. We are the only living entities that have the ability to reason, and when you happen upon someone lashing out or posting venom at the expense of your good company name (even though it is a blatant lie) the inclination may be to either freeze from the shock, or ignore it. The effects of doing either of these is akin to getting a cut. If you simply leave it to its own devices, the possibility of further damage to your system is very real if not taken care of through a bandage or ointment.
Taking the high road in answering back however provides the possibility of changing the outcome. We all love attention and so will your unsatisfied blogger or casual poster if given the chance. At some time in our lives most of us can recall a moment when a local shop or business bent over backwards to try and fix what the issue (real or imagined) was that caused us to react the way we did. For some of us, their actions not only steered us to their way of thinking, but in some cases made us more loyal than before the ‘incident' occurred. So if this happens to be true, the only question is, how does one respond to the negative? The answer… just respond. You may not have all the answers, but you have the benefit of delay, as opposed to being face-to-face and forced to come up with an immediate solution. Spending a minute or two to craft a response (action), for many of us will be held in high regard, but leaving an issue unresolved (in-action) could mean the loss not only of a customer, but the followers that customer has. The Timid When it comes to your business, there can be no good in remaining in the ‘mushy middle' with customer interactions… you need to be on one side or the other. Picking and choosing which comments or posts to engage back at one's convenience… or based on mood, is tantamount to mediocrity. Will there be comments received which are neither positive nor negative that may not deserve a response? Of course… and there are many, but not having a clear directive with what to do with the ‘others' does your enterprise no favor. In short, if your business doesn't stand for something in the arena of social engagement, you'll have a tendency to fall for everything. Rather than going with what the wind dictates, set out your expectations and communicate it to your team. A good means of getting traction with a social media engagement strategy is to examine the posts which have come in to your firm. Are there a few obvious items which you feel could have been changed? Rather than not answer back to the customer who proclaimed the positive experience they had with your business, would it instead have been a benefit to spend a few seconds expressing your appreciation for the public sentiment? Another way of gleaning insight on the matter is to study what the competition is doing. You may be surprised at the level of engagement they are providing back to their ‘fan base’, and sometimes this is all that is needed to prove the case and motivate your decision makers to do likewise. Just as powerful a sedative is seeing the non-action of your competitors, as if your firm is the one answering back on the social channels, you may be seen as the leader in your industry. Remember, all comments posted from Tumblr, YouTube, GetSatisfaction, Twitter and other social-related sites are publicly available, which means everyone can see (or not see) the true grit of your character. The Verdict The decision to act (or not act) with your audience can only be answered by you. Weighing out the pros and cons need not be a task for Hercules, and the answers can come as swiftly as studying how firms like Salesforce and Delta Air Lines interact with their clients. There may be those in the firm who feel the decision to openly communicate should have been in the company’s playbook years ago, but perhaps the challenge is that the decision makers have not heard their advice. If the executives who hold sway over the external communication within your firm knew of the importance of a 2-way relationship with your social media inquirers, might the decision to act be hastened? We all know the power of replying to a contact in a physical setting or via the phone, the only difference with the consumer web is the platform. Ask yourself this question… what are the economics of not answering a call to action at your business. Is the answer getting clear?
Title image by Inhabitat
