Facebook gives organizations the opportunity to “WOW” customers with their human and approachable touch so important to building business, loyalty, and the development of a company’s brand. With over one billion active users, why not use Mark Zuckerberg’s brilliant social platform to help to build an audience, engage them in interesting conversation about one’s product or service, and then have the opportunity to convert visitors into more customers?
Facebook isn’t just about tracking down your old boyfriend, sending birthday wishes to your friends instead of the snail mail obligatory birthday cards, or posting photographs from your high school graduation cheerleader captain days; now it’s also about interest groups and ones that are organized by workplaces intended to target visitors to specific sites. In addition, business pages encourage friends and their friends to “like” us, and thus engages another opportunity to share feedback and to help people. After all, we do tend to share our best referrals with our friends and relatives.
The best business pages make answers easy to find. In the very complex world of algorithms, Facebook business pages crawl to the top of the popularity lists through comments, shares, and “likes.” Leading the parade are comments and shares, and of course it is better when customers praise a company with positive comments. Mind you now, this is a perfect opportunity to acknowledge the positive comments with “thank you” responses. On the other hand, it still provides an excellent venue to listen to complaints by responding quickly and being able to help with solutions.
Customer service always comes with the territory on Facebook, as it gives consumers an outlet for airing their issues and allowing for the most frustrated to have their voices heard. Imagine Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “shot heard around the world” as the American Revolutionary War in 1775 began on the North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts as the first shot rang out killing British soldiers? Although not nearly as dramatic as America’s fight for freedom way back when, disgruntled people are always searching for solutions, and the more people who they can engage, the more drama that emerges.
Although Facebook promises to provide opportunities to boost businesses, an important caveat needs to be considered; the staff monitoring the page must know their business and be diligent and prompt with responses. Unhappy customers become even more disgruntled if they are ignored; maybe it’s not intentional because staff members are attending to other business dealings, but it’s doubtful a customer whose product has failed will have much sympathy. There is even a good possibility the customer has already tried to communicate via telephone and was met with “please don’t hang up; your call is very important to us” while waiting 15 minutes on hold listening to the same advertisement about the company over and over again. Therefore if a business decides to use Facebook as another customer service portal, make sure to be diligent with sharing feedback, personally answering customers, and responding quickly with solutions.
Constant monitoring can help customers find answers before comments become negative. Even building a FAQ can drive customers to helpful answers. Setting up keyword alerts for words like “frustrated” or “disappointed” depending on the type of business or service, can notify staff members to address a potentially volatile situation before it gets out of hand. Being warned beforehand can still be one of the best opportunities to turn the negative into opportunities.
Take advantage of social media; it’s here to stay.
