Week 2 - Part A : Communication Between Business and Consumer

Social Media has dramatically changed the way we learn about products and services. In the dinosaur age we learned about new products by reading ads in newspapers or magazines, or seeing commercials on TV. Perhaps we would get a flyer in the mail, or hear a radio advertisement. Now our mobile phones hear us talking and magically Facebook sends us targeted ads for just what we were discussing! Google is just as mysterious for reading our minds. Do a Google search and an ad for that, or similar products, appear in any article we are reading. Looking for Lululemon workout attire but can't afford the hefty price tag? YouTube influencers have just the answer for you. Want to look younger, skinnier, sexier? Yes there are videos for that too. Everything we didn't know we wanted is there for our purchase, courtesy of social media.

As for actually talking to people at a business; I'm old enough to remember days before we even had answering machines or number prompts. The days when businesses kept 9-5 hours and were closed on Sundays. To get a hold of someone at a business was often times a very frustrating endeavor.

Today there are so many tools for reaching a business, although it can STILL be a frustrating endeavor. Ever try to get through to a doctor's office or DirecTV? To avoid such aggravation, now I use the MyScripps app or go online for service issues. Many companies don't even have phone numbers listed anymore. However, today companies often have 24-hour support via chat. 

Companies know it is best to respond promptly to complaints, or else they risk being seen as having inferior products or even worse, uncaring. Positive and negative feedback are all there for everyone to see. Negative reviews can hurt a product or service for a very long time.

I seldom leave reviews of a product or business. My experience usually has to be very good or very bad to prompt the effort. As far a negative experiences, if they are service related, I give the person the benefit of the doubt. I worked my way through my college degrees in retail and food service. Most issues were beyond my control to change, things like sick co-workers or delayed product delivery. The last bad review I left for anything was for a product on Amazon. I had purchased an elevated dog cot. It was missing two legs. I left a review reflecting the missing parts. The company responded, promising to send the two legs, however, to date I have not received them.

I currently have a fairly active Facebook page for my dog breeding business, so active that I cannot keep up with the inquiries. Once, someone complained that I was unresponsive, and they were not wrong! I am a mother of 5 with 7 dogs and lots of puppies of various ages. The living creatures in my home always have priority over social media. Their needs are quite time consuming and exhausting. Since I'm mostly a one-person business, I am not always prompt to respond to posts on my page. Bad idea on social media! My solution was to apologize and explain. Sadly, often people are not very forgiving in present society. They don't want to hear your excuses. However, I do try to be genuine and authentic. When I do sit down to respond to people, I like every post. I try to give at least a few words response to all the comments. People don't like to be ignored or overlooked, in person or online. We must show our followers we are listening.

No one likes a narcissist. Interestingly, narcissists can initially come off as quite charming. The same can be said for an online presence. We need to hear our followers, not just talk about ourselves. We all feel when it is a one way street. No one is going to stick around long for that. Healthy communication is an even mixture of give and take. Providing value and showing appreciation of your readers is how to be effective using social media for promotion and marketing. I liked how the author, Dave Kerpen, likened online marketing to a date. He advises listening more than you talk and to keep listening. Who knew there were so many apps to do much of the listening for you? Perhaps I need one of those apps to keep up with my online presence to avoid appearing unresponsive. I look forward to exploring those third party helpers, because keeping up with just one business presence on Facebook and Instagram can be a full time job, and social media is not my full time job.

I read the forward in the Likeable book. It was written by the author's wife, Carrie Kerpen, as it was in the previous edition. She is the co-founder and CEO of their shared business, Likeable Media. Since the previous edition, she is now the author of a book titled Work It: Secrets for Success from the Boldest Women in Business. Curious about what the Mrs had to say, I looked the book up on Amazon. 72 reviews. 4.9 stars out of 5. There was one one-star rating. It was from a former employee or business associate of Likeable Media. Of course we always check out the negative reviews first, do we not?

Her negative review is the one that sticks with me because she implies the Kerpen couple were horrible to work with. "...in a previous job, I dealt with Carrie and her husband Dave. It wasn't a pleasant experience, far from it." I know nothing of what happened. A disgruntled employee? But without a response from the author it left my imagination running wild. I know on Amazon that the seller or author can respond to comments. I would think that there would be a way for Carrie Kerpen to neutralize that comment in a sensitive way. In fact in his book, Dave Kerpen uses the words "transparent, responsive, authentic." In this case a little communication could have potentially soothed the burn of that scorching review. On the other hand, Carrie did respond to a number of bad reviews on GlassDoor.

Why all snooping you may ask? Heck our society is encouraged to do so. We have so many ways find out about the experiences of others. All these social media venues, you can give feedback on just about anything. I got a new refrigerator. I checked out all the reviews on Best Buy. Can't decide on which class to take? Who wants to a bad teacher? Rate My Professor!  Ms Faulk had good reviews! I already knew that because I've had classes with her before. My daughter is also a student at MiraCosta. She has had some experiences that were not so good. Now she does her research and has been happy. Opinions are powerful.