Do you know that almost every brand is being talked about on Social Media? But it’s only a few companies that are smart enough to listen and respond to their customers.
In an organization, from the managing director to the receptionist; from the bank manager to your customers, everyone should be your reputation protectors. A good reputation can be severely dented by an unsatisfied customer. Rebuilding a damaged reputation is much harder than building a good one from scratch – customers have long memories. A fiasco happened to your organization may not hit the news bulletin but a bad news still travels a long way so one can’t afford to get it wrong. One very recent examples of why reputation management on Social Media is important.
Pradeep Chopra, director of Digital Vidya shares his personal experience. It happened in January that he was supposed to receive a parcel from ICICI Bank. He kept waiting for 15 days but neither did he receive the parcel nor any calls related to it. It seemed as if ICICI Bank forgot to send it. To enquire about it, he went to the bank on his own, the bank asked for 15 days time to look into the matter. Fifteen days passed but there was no response. Again, Pradeep went to check with the bank. Three months passed but there was no response to his problem and the parcel was still undelivered.
It was three times that he had personally visited the bank in last 2 months apart from several phone calls that he made to them, but to no avail. After that he tweeted about it on May 26, 2010 saying, “ICICI Bank customer service sucks. Three visits to the branch but problem is still there. Worst, they don’t even care about calling back”
This tweet spread like fire and then another friend of Pradeep, Gireesh Sharma re-tweet it in a similar manner in support to Pradeep. He tweeted, “Even I am sick of ICICI Bank, India. Large Bank, very poor service. Heading to become Lehman Brothers!”
Within few hours Pradeep got a response from the bank on Twitter and they asked him for his contact number. They Tweeted, “Sorry to hear that. Anything we can do to regain your confidence in ICICI Bank Happy to have someone reach out to you. Direct message your contacts.”
Within two days the issue was sorted out. The Bank Manager came home and personally delivered the parcel.
This is a great example to show that Social Media is powerful and it also speaks of the virality that it has. One speaks something; it is heard, taken forward by many and is kept alive until an answer is there. Because ICICI bank was listening they were able to respond to the problem immediately. In case they would not be listening, it could have caused them a big damage to them in terms of customer downfall. And this goes for every brand.
The best way to manage your online reputation is to be proactive about it. In today’s time constant monitoring and a direct connectivity with one’s customer is a must not only to solve their queries immediately but also to get several ideas and feedback to improvise their services and offerings. A problem like Pradeep’s, if not resolved, can create a negative impression of the brand in the market. It is a smart move to maintain your online reputation.
If you have any similar experience, please feel free to share.
Couple of other relevant and useful examples of Online Reputation Management are:
a.) About Apple Macbook
b.) Ola Cabs Case Study
c.) Toyota Altis Review
ICICI Custmer care totally sucks. My icici debitcard got struck in icici ATM. Trying 2 reach their Customer care from last 2 hours. Önly 2 hear “all our lines are on hold .we apprecte your patience.”