BT Care enough to use Twitter for customer service
More and more companies are using Twitter to improve the reach of their customer services and listening to the chatter on Twitter can help companies avoid negative public relations.
Naturally there is an unhealthy element of self interest involved. Whereas in the days before social media a disgruntled customer might tell their friends, today a whinge on Twitter can reach hundreds, then thousands and potentially many more – and what they say will be found by Google long after the fuss has died down.
Of course this makes it vitally important for companies to respond swiftly and positively to any criticisms on social networking websites like Twitter. Indeed while Morgan PR might create reputations in Newbury, West Berkshire and throughout the Thames Valley, in realty much of our public relations work is global we help companies manage their image online.
A great recent example came about when Mike Samuels, The Medical Photographer based in Newbury, found that BT had merrily switched him from Tiscali and try as he might he could get no joy by telephoning BT (obviously a bit much to expect a telephone company to make good use of telephone customer service!). Then he used his @MikeSamuels68 identity on Twitter to complain.
On Twitter @BTCare obviously monitor because they tweeted to Mike Samuels very quickly, took ownership and ultimately solved the problem - and their public response was powerful PR:
When normal service was resumed - back with the rival supplier that Mike Samuels never wanted to leave, it prompted @MikeSamuels68 to generously tweet:
While it is great to see @BTCare responding so well, the lack of congruence is worrying. Naturally there is a need for such fire fighting in terms of PR. Ignoring @MikeSamuels68 or not even being aware of him would have lead to bad publicity.
However, better customer service all around would have been even more impressive – from ensuring sales staff do not pull a fast one as they did in this case, through to taking ownership and dealing with a problem the moment it becomes apparent.
Good customer service should operate like triage does in a hospital, with the most serious problems being taken care of first. As more and more people use social media to voice dissatisfaction it will soon become clear who has more problems than they can solve.
Absolutely businesses should consider the PR implications of complaints and use social media to combat them; however this should not be at the expense of overall improvement of their services.