Week 2 Part A: Communication Between Business & Consumer

   

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          Hi again readers! Thanks for stopping by. This post takes a Sunday drive around “Communication Between Business & Consumers”. When I think about how people communicated with businesses in the past, there are methods that have transformed and still persist today.

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          One time-worn and possibly entertaining method for consumers to get a result is through a tantrum. In person, watching a well-played tantrum is like watching the tips and falls of a Rube Goldberg machine – there’s both caution and wonder. Tantrums are easier to throw digitally through social media. Find their page, put everything in caps and flame on! Now it’s out of your system, and you can move on, right? Word of mouth becomes instant because random people view your comment. Seeds of doubt embed in each of those minds. The result is the same digitally as it was in person; if your comment gets enough attention, a company representative will respond.

In my research on customer reviews of businesses, I’ve found a personal preference. I think a review is more valid to me if the person writes plainly about their experience, and states what they think should have happened. Reviews that are inflammatory are suspect. It would seem pretty simple but being polite even when we feel wronged can make the difference in how our problem is handled. We all have moments where we are not getting the thing that we think we should get; but the people who get their desired outcome are the ones who approach it in a way that seems calm and fair.

Generally, I’m not a comment-leaver. When I am, it is to say something positive. If I see that a really cool business needs a boost, then I might leave a quick review or put their link on my Facebook page. If a less well-known company has a product that I use and like, I’ll rate, like and follow/subscribe. Conversely, if a business’ product or service is subpar, then I just don’t use them again. Anyone else is a better bet than the business that failed to deliver. Despite that, there’s no bad feelings toward the business, it just wasn’t right for me. I don’t need anyone to know how I feel about it, instead, I quietly disappear.

But If I were the business owner, I wouldn’t like it if someone just quietly stopped using my business. I would want to know what my customers thought so that I could correct it, and I prefer to hear it directly from them. It could be difficult to hear negative comments, but worse to find out there was a problem through social media instead of directly from the customer. Regardless, I suppose that I would handle all reviews with thanks, because whether the comment is positive or negative, I can learn from it to make my business better. When apologies are in order, I would make them sincerely, without excuses, and with an action plan to not do it again.

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                Consumers still have ways to make their experiences known to businesses. The methods customers use to address their concerns today are the same paints on a different canvas – social media. As in the past, some methods are more effective than others. Unlike the past, social media and the internet make our voices super loud, for an instant, and maybe even long enough to effect change.