LINDA COSTA COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

New Study Shows Companies Don’t Hear Complaints First
12.16.09

The evidence for companies to establish a social media monitoring program keeps building up. The most recent is the latest study from England’s Institute of Customer Service, which shows that dissatisfied customers are turning to social networks to complain about companies – before complaining to the companies themselves.

Think about that for a moment. Customers aren’t even giving companies a chance to fix poor service before telling their Facebook friends, Twitter followers and blog readers about how their expectations weren’t met. The study even says that only a small minority of dissatisfied customers bother going to the offending organization at all.

Without a social media monitoring program in place, how is a company to know this situation even exists? Odds are, they won’t. And that presents a serious problem.

The study did have a bright side, though: Individuals who are vocal about their criticisms are also likely to share positive experiences. That means companies who are keeping an eye on their online presence have the opportunity to turn complainers into happy customers – right in front of their networks’ eyes.

Check out PR Cog’s response to his experience with the lack of one company’s social media monitoring, over on Sarah Evans’ blog.

So, what are you waiting for? If you have questions about monitoring programs, where to start, online tools, etc. – ask away in the comments!