22% of UK consumers would complain to a company using social media when they receive a disappointing customer experience. That's according to new research by Sage. However, only 40% had received an acknowledgement as a result. Maybe that's because many businesses simply aren't listening!
Another survey by Sage reveals that only 6% of business owners monitor social media to gain a better understanding of their customers and although 43% believed that the economic conditions made it more important to go further for customers, only 1% engaged with them through social media by responding to comments and criticism.
Any business that is not engaging with its customers via the channel that they are using could be in real danger of missing things - good and bad! It's like the business that when asked 'what are your customer service levels like?' says 'we don't get many complaints'. Maybe, they are simply not listening! In fact, you might even find that the more customer focused businesses are the ones that get more complaints - simply because they are easy to complain to!
What exasperates the situation is of course that even though businesses aren't listening to their customers, other people are!
A report I highlighted previously in September suggests that:
- 80% of us have changed our minds about buying something after we've read a negative review - that's up from 67% last year!
- 87% of us have been swayed by positive comments to confirm our decision to buy, and apparently....
- 90% of us see online channels as a trustworthy source of product and service reviews
Characterstic #5 of 'Remarkable' businesses is 'Dialogue, Not Diatribes' - they listen to and engage with their customers. Of course, not all customers communicate through social media I know, but it's clear that more and more are. Any business that is not engaging with its customers in the format that works for them, is in danger of not spotting problems or opportunities.
Are YOU listening?