How Brand Advocates Transform into Customer Service Representatives

by NancyCheng on October 26, 2012

The following scenario is one that most people can relate to all too well – a boy takes a girl out on a date to a local restaurant. Everything is picture-perfect that night, with the exception of the less-than-ideal service. Although the boy made a reservation in advance, the wait time is still unbelievably lengthy. The waiters and waitresses are unable to handle the large volume of customers at one time, so the impatient diners are forced to continue waiting. By the end of the night, the boy and the girl leave the restaurant angry and disappointed by their dining experience since their planned evening together was derailed by poor customer service. In this type of situation, what should the boy and the girl do with their valid complaints? What is the best way for them to share their feelings and receive a response from the business? Should they call a customer service line, or should they immediately report to their thoughts to the restaurant’s official Facebook page? Should they reach out to the business via Twitter and tweet about their unsatisfying experience? In addition to the variety of available options, another vital question is probed; that is, who will respond to their complaints?

Personally, I hate to call customer service telephone numbers, so I typically go online to file complaints. When it happens, I don’t expect that I’ll receive any direct response from the business or company, but I know that at the least people who visit the social media page and care about the brand will notice my commentary and keep my opinion in mind when it boils down to endorsing or patronizing that particular brand in the future. When I was thinking about getting the iPhone 5 and switching from AT&T to Verizon, I spent some time looking through each brand’s specific Facebook fan page. I noticed that Verizon hasn’t been very active in talking or engaging with its fans. However, Verizon has a pretty positive and responsive fan base. If there are some comments and questions on its Facebook page, Verizon’s fans and users are very willing to respond to concerns immediately. Therefore, people who leave a comment or question won’t feel that his or her opinion isn’t valued. Fans and users will become the brand’s customer service representatives (although not officially) since they are often online and they know the brand well.

Here are some funny responses from Verizon users describing their perception of the brand:

I think what happened on Verizon’s social media page is interesting. There is another brand that has proactive fans and positive commentary – Apple. Apple fans are proud of themselves for being faithful and loyal to the brand. Although Apple products are popular, it’s undeniable that some Apple products have their own flaws. Judging from the following comments, it seems like Tim Norvell wanted to get an iPhone 5 even if there are some extremely negative comments about the phone:

I think this phenomenon will become more and more common, which means that each brand will need to employ more community managers to monitor and engage in two-way conversations online. Once there are more employees regulating social media accounts, the conversation pace will be fast. Of course, a brand can choose to lay back and simply observe the dialogue taking place between its current consumers, which is exactly the approach that Verizon and Apple have implemented in the past. However, if that particular strategy is executed as a long-term communication plan, I think that it will be difficult for most brands to establish a strong fan base, and ultimately retain the reputation of an exceptional customer service brand through the eyes’ of its stakeholders.

After carefully studying Verizon and Apple’s respective approaches and trends within the social media sphere, I don’t believe that every brand should be required to be active online users. However, a corporate brand does need to ensure that the two-way exchange of conversation between itself and its customers is continuous and timely.

Do you think that if a brand is not active on social media, it’s comparable to contacting a company customer service line that no one answers?

  • http://twitter.com/nikkigeffen Nikki Geffen

    I think it is very important for a brand to have a presence on social media sites. Last week I tweeted out to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power saying I had yet to receive a bill and was worried. They responded right away to my tweet asking me to direct message them and within a few days a bill was sent. It was amazing customer service and I didn’t have to wait on hold for 20 minutes to speak with someone.

  • http://twitter.com/EReidenbach Elizabeth Reidenbach

    Excellent topic, Nancy! If a brand elects to have an online presence (i.e. a Facebook fan page, a Twitter account, etc.), I think that it’s crucial for the company to be pro-active communicators and engage in two-way dialogue with its stakeholders, no matter what the content of the conversation entails. By ignoring the positive and negative commentary generated by its product users, the brand only conveys a despondent and unfavorable reputation. I’ve had many friends reach out to major airlines via Twitter expressing their personal dissatisfaction with recent traveling arrangements, only to receive a variety of responses from both the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

  • http://twitter.com/CandiceCerro Candice Cerro

    I think this makes a community manager’s job even more stressful. Dealing with disgruntled customers is truly an art form, but from time to time I definitely feel like tweeting about a bad experience.

  • Mbbecker

    I don’t think anything compares to speaking person to person….phone vs. social media. Always.

  • Jessica Wang

    If a brand decides to set up these social media platforms, then they need to be sure that they designate someone active and professional to be handling these sites! I think it’s a bad idea for customers to transform into “Brand Rep” because you never know what they are going to say.

  • Molly Russell

    I actually had a problem and I called the Best Western Customer Service and was waiting on the phone for almost 45 minutes, so I hung up and tweeted my issue at that with the #StayingSomewhereElseNextTime and they got back to me right away! I think social media has really helped with speeding up the process of dealing with customer service. I’d recommend it.

  • http://twitter.com/KGatena Kaitlyn Gatena

    I agree with Jessica and think that if brands decide to set up social media platforms then they need a professional to handle these sites!

  • Brooke M.

    I completely agree with Jessica-if a brand chooses to use social media, they have to stay very active on it in order to keep up with customer issues and respond in a timely manner. Otherwise, it’s just as bad as sitting on the phone for 45 minutes.

  • http://twitter.com/lavenusperdida Fernanda Lopez

    I love this post. I am a heavy user of social media for customer service. I’ve had a lot of experience with companies and some of them are pretty good at getting back to you, trying to resolve the problem. One of my favorites is Bosh. They will take you to the ultimate step to try to fix your issues with your dishwasher. On the other hand, I had a terrible experience with Treasure Island Hotel in Las Vegas. They did something really inappropriate during my wedding celebration and I published my bad experience on their Facebook page and they never cared to respond.

  • HillaryBrown

    I’m disappointed in the way Apple isn’t utilizing their social media for customer service. I can understand that they are a very large and successful business. I would just like to see more of a presence from them in the social media sphere.

  • Katie L.

    I think a brand would be absolutely crazy to not respond to and engage with their customers on social media – that’s the whole purpose of social media in the first place! Companies should use advertising, PR and product placement for sales, but focus social media on building a community and interacting with their customers. If people post a complaint on a company’s wall and I don’t see any response from the company, I automatically question the company’s dedication to their customers.

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