Managing customer expectations using authenticity

Managing customer expectations? Authenticity? I thought this was a social media blog...

It is!

Consider the old business adage that exhorts us to "under promise and over deliver". I expect everyone has come across at least one company that has reversed that and under delivered on what they said they would do. We are so much more disappointed in a company if they promise us the earth and then let us down.

Like any form of communication, your social media needs to reflect what you actually do. However, unlike the traditional communication channels, social media can bite back - and hard - if you get it wrong.

I'm not talking about deliberate misrepresentation here, which is a whole other can o' worms, but about a mismatch in your online business persona and your face to face one.

So, how do you avoid getting it wrong? By being authentic.

Here are some points for you to consider about your authenticity on social media:


Consistency of customer experience
Are your social media "tone of voice" and service levels aligned with your website, email and face to face communication?

Will people feel that they are still talking to the same company when they telephone you or get and email response from you?

This is particularly important if the customer is dealing with several different people from your company. (It's not always the social media that needs changing!)

Being human
Your conversion from social media interaction to customer satisfaction will be far more effective if your communications appear to come from a human. Standard letters and emails are a boon to the busy business, but they don't have to be sterile and boring. Put some effort into your templates and add a personal touch.


Response speed
If you answer your tweets immediately but your answering machine is always on then, there's a mismatch in experience.

Make sure you have enough resource to cover the interaction across all your channels. If you can't afford the resource, then you should think carefully about having a presence there.


Crisis management
Sometimes, things go wrong. It happens to all businesses at some point. How you handle the incident will reflect on your reputation both on and offline. You may not want to play out the whole scenario on social media, but your response and handling will be noted by other people.

Bear in mind that emails can be copy and pasted onto blogs and even phone conversations find their way into the blogosphere.

If you're nice as pie on Facebook and apparently dismissive on email, it'll backfire on you. Have a response plan that includes social media, emails, phone calls, face to face,  PR etc.


Don't fudge (unless you're a confectioner!)
If you don't know or you aren't sure about a question you've been asked then say so. Of course, follow up with the fact that you're going to find out and come back to them. People would rather wait a short while and get the correct information than be fobbed off.

Hyper marketing

One of the reasons I wanted to start my own business was so I could steer by my own moral compass.

I believe in offering what's required to a customer in preference to selling them a service they don't need, but would make me more money. Lately my belief in that position has been sorely tested.

I've seen companies charging huge fees for hours and hours of training on sites such as Twitter. It seems popular, assuming that the courses are full and run every time they are advertised to do so!

Having spent many years in education, I know that the end benefits for the customers are less than if they had attended a series of shorter, less expensive 1-2-1 tutorials.

Don't get me wrong. Many group training sessions are very well run and provide an excellent introduction to Social Media. It's the ones that test the boundaries of credibility as well as the customers' finances that I'm talking about here. (think 4 figure fees!)

So - why are the overly expensive, extremely extended, group training courses preferable to a lot of customers over bespoke 1-2-1 sessions? Here lies my dilemma. I perceive the difference to be hyped up marketing.

Is this something I really want to try?

I'd love more business so let's see what it might sound like:
"Maximise your client engagement using Ariadne's proven 6 steps to credible interaction and improved product uptake. The three days that will change how you do business forever! Now only £1500!"

Would you buy that? Because I'm not at all sure that I want to sell it!

Back to reality

I've been swamped with jargon this last week. What's worse is it's someone else's idea of snappy terminology and not a natural area for me to dabble in.

In order to get as much information as possible for myself and for my clients, I entered the twilight zone of the "deal closers".

This has nothing to do with re-imagined vampires that sparkle in the sunlight! It has even less to do with normal human interaction from what I can ascertain.

Apparently, I need to "master the art of the soft close".

Up until a few days ago my knowledge of "soft closing" was limited to kitchen drawers. I think I would have been more comfortable had things remained that way!

If - as I am led to believe - the era of the hard sell is over, why do we have people dressing it up as new wave "customer needs gratification"?

I've looked at the path that leads to masses of timed tweets, auto DMs and pseudo relationships. I turned around and resolutely walked away. I'm back on my own path.

Against the anodyne

I've been doing a lot of research this week to ensure that my new client's Twitter feed gets real results.

I did some market segmentation based on the results of this research and it has proved to be really effective in targeting tweets. Based on the initial click through data, I've also optimised the time the tweets occur to hit the correct timezones. I'll keep monitoring and adapting this.  Already I'm in contact with some great people and I'm engaging them in conversation.

Hang on a minute. Why am I bothering?

I could just set up a load of timed clone tweets, press "go" and collect the client's money couldn't I? That seems, to me, to be what some social media "specialists" do for their customers.

Apart from the fact my "moral compass" doesn't point that way, all it would serve to do is convince my client that social media doesn't work. They wouldn't recommend it - or me - to anyone else. It would be a one off contract with no hope of renewal. Even worse, there would be another social media sceptic in the world!

Social media gets its name for a reason. It's about interaction, people and engagement by them and with them.

Anodyne feeds don't fulfil people's needs. They don't work. Please don't use them!