For shoppers, the search journey gives confidence at the point of purchase that they are getting maximum bang for their buck. In the online world, search engines enable consumers to make an informed decision in the midst of a plethora of information. Google reports that 70% of shoppers use a search engine to get more online information about a product. And their buying research extends beyond social media platforms. 31% read online endorsements, reviews, or recommendations.
So here’s the thing for brands not living up to the quality, delivery and experience promised, and to make matters worse, not listening to customers; customers will sooner or later, call the brand’s bluff–and today more likely than not take to online channels to do so. This can lead to some unpleasant consequences for the brand. And it holds true across sectors, big ticket ones like auto and real estate or expensive electronics, and consumer appliances to mobile handsets to e-commerce and banking and insurance, travel and leisure.
If you make a customer unhappy today, one negative mention online by them can get about 1100 impressions, our research at Akosha shows. The perception that most customer complaints make their way to Facebook and Twitter is true, but at Akosha we have found that 40% of brand mentions are off Facebook and Twitter and brands are still missing addressing these mentions.
Where customers typically land when researching brands?
If as a customer I plan to buy a washing machine, first things first before opening up a social media site, I would google the term “ Washing Machine reviews” and may find something along the following lines:
I wouldn’t necessarily make Facebook or Twitter the first landing point when looking for first-hand reviews or feedback. The point being that customer issues can prop up anywhere online and need to be addressed with alacrity and precision by the brand as it impacts the overall buying cycle of a new customer. This is manually not possible. Customers of white goods and mobile products for instance will voice their concerns on warranty issues, malfunctioning product, service center issues, delay in repair or replacement, on any legitimate site they find online which could include a consumer forum. What we are seeing at Akosha is that brand custodians are grappling to keep track, respond to and resolve all that the rest of the worldwide web is saying about the brand, outside of social media.
At the top end of the spectrum, smart marketers have curated their own forums which customers can visit to log their complaints like Cleartrip has done. A solid infrastructure, a timely response mechanism, and a creative and colourful design are the starting points to make this user friendly. In return, you build credibility and relationships with customers. An active forum allows you to get to know your customers, and them you. Positive virality and word-of-mouth will get you more customers.
On the flip side, forums come with their set of challenges. It takes a lot of work and maintenance, moderation and promotion. In the initial days, weeks and months you may be faced with an empty forum that will require you to initiate discussions and debates. If the topics are interesting you will get replies. This self-posting may have to go on for a while before you get things going.
How brands are handling customer issues expressed online other than on FB and twitter?
While most brands have set up to handle customers on social media, they are still figuring out how to create a mechanism to monitor the remaining (off Facebook and Twitter) 40% complaints and feedback. There is no easy answer. It lies in putting in place enabling technologies and a response team that responds here with the same level of urgency as they do on Facebook and Twitter.
Technologies using algorithmic software such as the Indic Crawler by Akosha’s OneDirect Suite are built specifically to track such complaints that come up on Indian complaint websites. Our USP is that we capture 35 per cent more complaints than any other tool in the market. Indic Crawler is able to do so because of features built in such as adapting to the Indianness of blogs and forums by catching “Hinglish” words, and its reach, to sites where other website crawlers have been blocked. It does this either through a manual setup or by scraping those sites.
Once marketers aggregate online feedback they’re able to deal with the negative feedback by initiating a dialogue, clarifying, and driving long-term brand engagement by showing customers that the brand cares, by being there on forums and discussion threads that customers use and frequent.
At the end of the day, brands will also want to know the ROI to them for providing the proactive customer experience. If by using a tool, you can be on top of user reviews and grievances, you’re not only stopping the snowball effect, but doing a positive branding at the online decision-making moment of customers, you’re also raising the probability of attracting new customers. As of now, there is no clear mechanism to calculate the ROI for this enhanced user experience, but by observing and listening to customers on the internet, brands can quickly identify and resolve genuine customer issues. As a result, build customer loyalty and trust and keep the brand reputation intact. That’s an important enough objective to have fulfilled.
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