Using Social Media to Improve Your Business

What’s the Latest Development?

A new technique which uses social media to improve business performance uses customer feedback to increase traffic and create more happy customers. At a department store in London, for example, a customer complained through an online survey about a poor meal they received at the store’s restaurant. “The store manager called the customer that night, apologized, and sent a coupon for two free meals. The customer was invited to post their happiness with the problem’s resolution on Facebook, and did.”

What’s the Big Idea?

The new tool is called ‘customer experience management’, or CEM. “The aim is not to drive online advertising impressions, but to explicitly and transparently drive the behavior of customers, front line service staff and retail managers. The aim is to create a true dialogue, not simply a listening post for customer kudos and complaints. And by doing so, this loop can drive meaningful operations and customer satisfaction gains.” And by watching consumer newsfeeds, businesses can solicit suggestions for improvement.

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