Whether you like it or not, existing or potentially new customers are talking about your business behind your back. Wouldn’t you like to know what they are saying?
When I say behind your back, I don’t mean in a slightly devious, underhand manner. I just mean that you’re not there to listen and they wouldn’t necessarily want you to hear what they’re saying anyway. It’s true that we rarely discuss a mediocre experience with friends – it normally has to be terrible or exceptional before we think it is worth mentioning.
Whilst it would be very useful to hear the GOOD things people say about your business, hearing the BAD stuff too can be even more valuable.
It’s easy to find out what people are saying about your business right now by creating a series of simple Google Alerts or using other free monitoring tools such as Socialmention.
Social media is open and democratic by its very nature and places a huge emphasis on the sharing of information. It’s digital word of mouth. News of bad experiences about a business will be quickly shared with hundreds of followers, friends and contacts.
If your business is using social media properly, you may be able do something about this by interacting with, and responding to, disgruntled punters and sorting out their grievances. It’s called
Reputation Management and offers your business the chance to put its point of view. Not in the heavy handed way that Nestle disastrously attempted earlier this year, but in a measured, positive and conciliatory way (see Pepsi example in this article).
After all, you can’t control EVERYTHING that is being said about your company and you certainly can’t please all your customers all the time.
But intelligent use of social media to try to do so will work wonders for your brand.