If customers ‘tweet’ about your business they expect a response! And guess what, they’re not getting one! The result is Customer ‘Disappointment’!
A new report highlights the increasing expectations of customers who make a comment about a business on social media and it’s a great illustration of the increasing challenges facing businesses when it comes to customer expectations. The report from Maritz Research highlights that 51% of people who make a complaint on line expect a response, but 85% of those questioned have never received one!
Perhaps in the past ( a few months ago?!!!), you could have ‘Delighted’ customers by responding ‘on-line’ – you would have delivered a ‘Great’ experience that ‘exceeded’ their (relatively) ‘Low’ expectations.
Not any more – their expectations have now clearly risen and responding on-line simply ‘meets’ expectations. Getting a response is what’s expected! ‘Customer Delight’ is likely to come from a ‘speedy response’ and / or a very ‘personalised’ response to online comments, and with a little ‘extra’ something to ‘wow’ the customer.
The report highlights the fact that providing feedback makes people feel good. When asked how they felt about receiving a public response from a brand 85% said they were delighted (27%) or very/somewhat happy (58%).
Younger people were more likely to prefer public feedback via the likes of Facebook or Twitter, while older age groups prefer more traditional, direct contact.
Not responding at all means that they receive a ‘Poor’ experience in relation to their expectations and as a result are ‘Disappointed’. Failing to respond to this ‘Disappointment’ means they become ‘Disaffected’ – they walk away, tell others and ignore your marketing messages!
The challenge for any business today is to be aware of, and respond to these increasing expectations. Even better, try to ‘exceed’ them and create ‘Delighted’ customers…. and do it consistently to create ‘Devoted’ Customers (until their expectations rise again!)
‘Devoted’ customers are those who have ‘High’ expectations of you and who consistently get a ‘Great’ experience (‘Great’ defined by them as customers by the way!). They are the ones who come back for more and tell others, and clearly it’s getting more difficult to do!
What are you doing to track, respond to, and exceed your customer expectations?