Big corporates such as BT, Easyjet and Carphone Warehouse are using software to trawl the web for unhappy customers grumbling about their service online. Critics of this CRM strategy say it’s tantamount to spying, in a recent report in The Daily Mail, a BT spokesman likened the policy ‘to having a conversation in a pub… it’s just a very large pub.’ 

I for one commend the big guys for looking to right what customers perceive as their service wrongs. There’s no such thing as a lone complaint in cyberspace and businesses of any size and sector should take note.

It has never paid to disregard a disgruntled customer – the often bandied word of mouth statistic around customer service considers one upset customer likely to tell seven others.  But think on. In the modern world of social networks the viral effect of a complaint can have an irradiating impact.

In the new media age – a happy customer tells a friend, an unhappy customer tells the world. They don’t just retell their story to immediate family and friends – they Facebook about it, they blog and they tweet. So their complaints are shared amongst their network, and their networks’ network etc etc.

Consider for one moment – the amount of news coverage both online and off generated by a 25 year old bride to be who was so cheesed off with the service she received from a travel firm that she changed her name by deed poll to – Mrs Lorraine Darla I hate Thomas Cook and its associated big shot companies treading on the little guys Leeks.

Or plug in BP to Facebook or Youtube to see the amount of bandwidth  devoted to the criticisms expressed by a diverse and global community of social networkers linked by their disappointment at BP’s handling of  the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

But take heart dear readers – the arrows of your downfall can be weapons in your armoury. By its very nature Twitter is the ultimate customer service tool – its restriction to 140 characters means comments and response must be brief and direct. The nub of the issue is quickly made apparent. All a business needs to do is add speed and authenticity to the delivery of the solution for the customer’s gripe and there’s a good chance that you can turn opponents into brand advocates. If not, at the least you’ll nip the impact of the bad noise they are capable of generating about your business and brand online in the bud.

It’s a lesson, that will see BT continue unrepentant to trawl the net for gripes – for their search and solve policy has not only ensured that they have won The world communications award for customer service, but that in a crowded and competitive telcoms marketplace they’ve gained new customers and kept existing ones. In the virtual pub of cyberspace, the next round’s on them.

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