Twitter and Online Customer Service: Are Your Ears Burning?

[Posted by Diane Clarkson]

 

A recent analysis by PR firm Burson-Marsteller and Proof Digital Media found that more than half of Fortune 100 companies are using Twitter with two thirds of these companies using Twitter for some kind of customer service function.

 

In other customer service channels, companies pick up the telephone or open an email to hear about customers' issues. Customer service on Twitter is not simply about responding. Think of Twitter as a conversation. You may be a participant in that conversation  with a direct message and the expectation of a response. Or you may be the topic of a conversation if your customers are tweeting their complaints to warn others or vent their frustrations. You will only hear this conversation if you are listening. Twitter gives you the opportunity to shift from being the topic to a participant.  If you respond well, you can convert a frustrated customer into a happy one while salvaging your reputation amongst their listeners.

 

Recently, blogger Heather Armstrong was frustrated with the service she’d received (or not received) from Maytag and, without satisfaction in other customer service channels, took to Twitter to vent. Her complaints about the company reached her one million followers. The next morning, she was contacted by someone from Whirlpool, Maytag’s parent company, who resolved the problem. Ms Armstrong tweeted her satisfaction.

 

Granted, Ms Armstrong is not your average customer. In August 2009, she was featured on Forbes list of the Most Influential Women in Media.  This incident has sparked debate over whether or not a media personality should their celebrity to complain about customer service.  eBusiness professionals should consider this debate as less important than whether or not they are listening to Twitter to know what people – anyone – are saying about their brands.

 

There are many potential eBusiness benefits to Twitter and I wrote about this in May 2009 in a report called “How Twitter Can Influence eBusiness”.   I will be publishing a report next month looking at Twitter and online customer service.

 

I believe more and more people will reach out to Twitter for customer service over the coming year.  That growth will bring expectations for instantaneous and personal response. Meeting these high expectations will have implications across many business areas including staffing and training, operational structure, CRM and knowledge base management.

 

If you are attending Forrester’s Consumer Forum in Chicago on October 26 -27, I will be presenting on “How Twitter Can Influence eBusiness: Assessing the Twitter Opportunity” and hope to see you there.

 

You can follow me on twitter.com/diane_clarkson

How can travel companies benefit more from user generated content?

[Posted by Henry Harteveldt]

Hello again.

I'm wrapping up my report on why travelers post their ratings and reviews. This was the winning topic that we asked our eBusiness blog readers to vote on. Thanks again to those of you who voted.

The good news is that travelers are more likely to post content like ratings, reviews, and pictures on travel Web sites to share good news with their fellow travelers, rather than bad news. I hope that's because more travelers interact with travel firms that exceed their expectations, rather than travelers having low expectations and simply pleased that nothing went wrong. The reality is likely a mix of both.

If you're a travel eBusiness or marketing professional, I'd sincerely value your opinions about user generated content (UGC) -- primarily ratings and reviews -- for one simple reason. I want to be sure that we write the most useful possible report. Among the questions we'd appreciate your input on are:

• What does your organization do to mine the massive amount of user generated content (UGC) about your brand, destination, or sector of the industry? Do you feel the investment of time and money is worth it? Why?
• If you don't allow UGC on your Web sites, why is that? Budget, technology -- the fear of someone saying something negative?
• Are you using UGC as part of your customer service or product/training improvement programs? How? What benefits have you seen?
• Is ROI a factor in your decision making? Why or why not?
• What potential benefits from UGC do see as being more, or less, useful to your organization and its objectives, and why?

I'd enjoy learning your thoughts. They'll help make the recommendations we offer that much more relevant to you.

As always, thanks for your time.

Henry

Travel social media: What vendors do you like?

  [Posted by Henry Harteveldt]

Hi everyone,

A couple of weeks ago, we asked you to vote for what you'd like us to write on for our next travel eBusiness research report. The winning topic was "Why travelers write ratings and reviews." I'm working on that now -- which leads me to today's post.

For those of you who allow travelers to post ratings, write reviews, or share other content, what vendors would you suggest I talk to? What makes them special? We certainly do our own research on this. My colleague Jeremiah Owyang, for example, published a report earlier this year analyzing the nine leading community platform providers.

As I research my report, I certainly want to make sure we explore all options. If there's a company you think I should call, simply post your suggestion(s). You'll make me happier than chocolate if you are able to provide a contact at the vendor as well.

As always, thanks for your time and suggestions.

Henry

Person-to-Person Lending Evolves and Devolves Simultaneously

[Posted by Brad Strothkamp}

Is it me or is there at least one major announcement in the Person-to-Person (P2P) lending space every week?

This last week had two:

• Fynanz shuts down. Fynanz, a student lending person-to-person lender, shut down last week.  A note on their site states "Due to market conditions, at this time we are not accepting new members."
• Pertuity Direct emerges. Pertuity Direct emerged on the person-to-person scene today with a model of person-to-person lending (and more importantly investing) that make the process more palpable - more on that later.

Here is my view on person-to-person lending:

PROS

• They are actually lending money to consumers that need it.  Unlike banks, consumers my actually be able to get a loan from a P2P lender
• They offer compelling rates both to borrowers and lenders.
• The investing (lending) side of the house is evolving into a model that is clearer and simpler. Pertuity Direct has an interesting investor model.  Investors don't fund individual loans (like with Prosper), but instead buy into one of two mutual funds. The funds differ in the types of borrowers and loans that make up the portfolio. Fund #1 - borrowers with 720+ FICO,  Fund #2 borrowers with FICOs 660 to 720
• It is a unique lending process. Crossing traditional lending with the aspect of community is unique.

Cons

• Few consumers know these lenders exist.  Forrester published a report around Person-to-person lending that showed that just 10% of US on-line consumers had heard of ANY P2P provider.
• Few consumers apply for loans on-line let alone apply with firms they have not heard of (a requirement of P2P lenders). In the US in 2007, just 16% of consumer that applied for a home equity product did so online versus 32% for a product like credit card.  Throw in the fact that P2P lenders are not well known brand name, and the potential market willing to apply for these loans online becomes very small, very quickly.
• It is a unique lending process - As on-line bill payment has shown us in the past, consumers are often unwilling to change habits and the change that happens happens very slowly.

Unfortunately, the cons outweigh the pros at this point.  Until that changes, the P2P market will remain a niche market utilized by only the most savvy of Internet users and investors. 

So what will be the sign that P2P lending is poised to take off?  I believe it will be when we see at least a quarter of consumers applying for loans online and/or we see a larger percentage of consumers utilizing comparison shopping sites. Forrester data has shown that consumers willing to do these activities tend to be longer tenure, savvy net users. The precise audience best suited for P2P lending.