Are You Listening?

0 CommentsWednesday • May 19, 2010 • by admin

Listening to the customer is the core of every sales training manual and customer service seminar, yet companies often fail to hear what is being said.

I recently attended the IIR Social Media conference, and heard many times over that corporate leadership didn’t want to hear about negative feedback from customers.

With social media playing a greater role as a resource to provide instant feedback, the customer voice is becoming more and more difficult to ignore. 

• Betty White appeared on SNL two weeks ago due to an outpouring of support from fans on Facebook (probably the most entertaining SNL episode this season).
• Nestle recently announced a zero deforestation policy, after ignoring organizations like Greenpeace regarding their sourcing of palm oil
• IKEA’s typeface change caused an uproar that IKEA wasn’t aware of until Lisa Abend, a reporter for TIME International (and my sister), brought it to their attention

Even if your company is not actively participating in social media, here are some ideas to monitor what your customers think of your company, your industry and your competitors:

• Yelp, Kudzu, Citysearch – Regularly monitor these rating sites
• Search.Twitter.com – Twitter’s search engine.  Just type in what you are interested in or use hashtags (#) before your word to see what comes up
• Social Mention, Alterian SM2 – free tools that give you a nice snap shot of what it is being said across social media channels
• Ripoff Report – when people are very unhappy, they’ll post it here

Social media may not be the right marketing tool for your business, but it is the right tool to help you listen to what your customers are saying.