The Psychology of people using Twitter as a customer service channel
Blimey, now there is a title to a blog post that I never thought I would use. Before everyone gets their knickers in a twist, I am certainly not a psychologist [ even had an issue spelling psychologist] and do not pretend to be one, but I have been around Twitter for well over 4 years, so have seen a lot of Twitter behaviour. In this blog post I wanted to talk about some of the behaviour that surrounds people using Twitter to contact businesses re customer service issues / complaints, help/ questions and so on..
I think this is important for brands to understand as it then should assist them with prioritising who to contact and in which order. I would love it if they contacted everyone, but back in the real world, this is just not possible.
The 1st thing to look at is the style of the Tweet. There are 3 options:- [ for this example I will use Sainsburys & a situation that I have made up. Although being out of Haribo Tangfastics is a huge deal for me]
1. @sainsburys I visited your store in Barnet and it had run out of Haribo Tangfastics.. Why was that?
2. I visited @sainsburys store in Barnet and it had run out of Haribo Tangfastics.. Why was that?
3. I cant believe it. I visited Sainsburys store in Barnet and it had run out of Haribo Tangfastics.. Why was that?
What is also important is to understand who sees what..
In version1, the only people that automatically see that message are me, @sainsburys and anyone that follows me and @sainsburys, so could only be a few. In version2. I have mentioned @sainsburys, so they will see it, I will see it and ALL of my followers will see it. And in version3, This is just a standard Tweet that all of my followers will see, @sainsburys will only get to see it if they are using a search to find people using their actual name ie Sainsburys.
Here is what I think….[from a customer point of view]
In version1. I have addressed my tweet correctly using their twitter username and clearly aimed it at them. To me that is because I would like and expect a reply. To me this is no different than phoning their call centre. There is no element of grandstanding the message ie highlighting the issue to all of my followers. I simply would like to know the answer to my question. If I don’t receive a reply then people often then go to version 2 as a way to escalate things from my point of view.
In version 2, I have escalated my message by making sure that all of my followers get to see me asking the question as well. I may have done this for my own self importance, because I don’t know better, or because I feel that by doing the message in this way, there will be a greater chance of a reply from @sainsburys as they may now think, Hold on this guy has 16,000 followers best to answer him, or they may think, Hold on, he only has 16,000 followers, my mum has more so no need to worry.
Personally, I feel that most people adopt version 2 as their way of flexing a bit of muscle against the Corporate giant. They are saying, you need to take me seriously because of my large following so best answer me or I may well blog next, then do the customary YouTube video and so on. My aim is to get public anger and opinions on my side, so that they are forced to help me as what started out as a simple question, has now turned into a potential massive PR disaster.
I have seen so many issues that started off with version 1. perhaps even tweeting the same tweet several times which was ignored. Then having no resolution, bang, out come the big guns with version2. Simply dealing with version1. quickly and professionally may well have headed off anymore actions.
In version 3 this is not addressed to @sainsburys. This to me is a tweet that is just letting off steam. I want my followers to know about it but really am not looking for a reply. I just wanted everyone to know.
What do you think? Do you use Twitter to complain / ask question /seek assistance from Businesses? Did you use a different style of tweet to get a reply / response etc.. Am I talking bollocks? Please feel free to comment in the box below, be great to hear your thoughts.
Please note a bag of Haribo Tangfastics was consumed whilst writing this blog post and I am in no way suggesting that Sainsburys are out of stock of them.
Hi Mark!
I really rate this post, because I myself have blogged on my own site and for others about the power of customer service through Social Media.
Certainly today the average Joe does have more ‘weight’ if they take to Twitter to get an answer.
In my own personal experience I’ve had dealings with 3 large UK company’s over twitter to get resolutions over bad service issues. I had always started my dealings using the version 1 – and for 2/3 company’s it worked absolutely fine. I had a far better response time than calling their call centres (one of which actually cut me off) or even drafting an email – at one point I was seemingly hacked off with 1 of them, but their ability to handle my problem in 1 hour, having been through a lengthy 7 day process did actually restore my faith in their customer service (even though I will refuse to use their services again)
The 3rd company in question has been a repeat offender, unfortunately and their ability to handle my customer service issues even via twitter is still not acceptable (for me anyway) It’s not that they don’t respond – they do, but their ‘results’ aren’t good enough, and its a company we all have to use in the UK at some point or another – Almost weekly I have issues with them, and if I do, so must everyone else – in our office here, we don’t even bother with a phone call / email – straight to Twitter as we know its manned – but they only reply when you chase them. So sometimes it requires method 2 to get their attention and prioritise the issues.
You are talking absolute sense here, and for the fact that consumers can have a better contact with organisations away from the dreadful ‘outsourcing’ of call centres, I think Social Media has helped Customer Service departments throughout the UK and further.
Thanks
Clair
Well Mark, as you know I am a psychologist (though I admit it is difficult to type the word…!). I’m not sure I agree with you completely – few people know the technical difference of where you put the @mention. I doubt if they are flexing muscle. I think they are just trying to write something that reads reasonably well and seems almost grammatical. So if they start with “@sainsburys” it seems less logical than including their name later on in as near to a proper sentence as possible. Also, as you know, you can find thousands of company complaints that do not even us an @mention because many people do not understand the precise way of using Twitter that you so clearly do – but then you are a foremost Twitter expert. Most people don’t have your knowledge.
What is really the question to ask is why do people bother in the first place to type such messages of complaint? What is their motivation?
Twitter, of course, is already a self-selected group of people who are prepared to be public about their thoughts. Most people are not like this; I suspect the degree of extroversion would be quite high amongst Twitter users. Hence their complaints about @sainsburys for instance would simply be part of that, done largely subconsciously with no real active thinking as to where to put the @mention or even whether to have one or not.
So, even though you raise an interesting issue about the kind of complaining that people do on Twitter, I actually doubt in most instances there is anything like the degree of consciousness about it that you suggest.
Twitter experts like you will think carefully about the way you use @mentions or not as the case may be. But the vast majority of people using Twitter are not experts.
Hi Mark,
I think you taught me this 140 characters at a time about a year ago and it’s been invaluable. When I have a Customer service issue Twitter is my first port of call now, even before I pick up the phone. Some examples:
The post office sent me a refund cheque within 24 hours for a delayed package.
Tesco sent me a £10 giftcard for misleading info on their website
In addition I’ve help friends too by sharing the info and RT their problems so the companies know the (negative) message is spreading.
Friends were let down on a promised Sunday delivery. Delivery happened 8.30am Monday morning AND they got a £25.00 sorry.
The best one as far as I’m concerned was the student friend who had an A Level exam scheduled at the same time a large car company (his dream job) offered him an interview. He told them, they acknowledged, and then afterwards denied all knowledge of the conversation and wouldn’t reschedule.
To cut a long story short, he got his interview, and got the job.
It all comes down to knowing where and when to place the @ symbol in a little 140 character microblog.