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TMC.net Loyalty Factor's Dianne Durkin on Social Media and Customer Loyalty
Voice Of The Customer Fetaured Article
Loyalty Factor's Dianne Durkin
on Social Media and Customer Loyalty
By Brendan B. Read, Senior Contributing Editor
December 08, 2010
One critical facet of social media that has not received too much play is its impact on customer loyalty. To understand this, TMCnet.com reached out to Dianne Durkin, who is president and founder of Loyalty Factor, which provides consulting and training services aimed at enhancing employee, customer and brand loyalty, to get her thoughts on the positive and negative effects of social media on loyalty strategies. We also sought out her recommendations for firms on enhancing loyalty in this social media age.
Durkin points out:
“With today’s social media, organizations should be aware that while engaging in social media may leverage their customer service, it can also destroy it. A poor customer experience can now be more harmful than ever. With the click of a mouse, customers can take their grievance global and change public perception of a brand.”
“Customer care via social media is a viral movement: both positive and negative. Organizations should think carefully about how to use social media as an additional tool to engage their customer. At the same time, they need to utilize the basics of respect and satisfying customer needs when building customer satisfaction and loyalty.”
“Today’s businesses need to take a step back from social media tools and web traffic analysis for establishing employee, customer and brand loyalty. To sustain loyalty, I would recommend organizations take a “back to basics” strategy – and have face-to-face conversations with customers to sustain loyalty.”
“Rather than automatically defaulting to technical measurements gathered from Facebook, website analytics and Twitter-injected metrics, businesses must redefine corporate culture, image, brand and consumer behavior by building a loyalty advantage from within.
Durkin says that a good brand can increase consumer interaction and result in increased productivity, higher profitability and lower customer turnover if they:
- Energize the workforce to promote excellent customer satisfaction and loyalty from within the organization
- Stimulate a positive outward bound chain reaction
- Create a favorable brand perception among consumers and stakeholders
“As businesses gear up for the biggest holiday shopping season in five years, customer service departments must ensure that their loyal employees become their Number 1 ambassadors of goodwill – both on social media and in person, “ recommends Durkin.” Loyal customers keep businesses profitable and happy customer service employees —who enjoy their jobs—are on the frontlines to bring in business. Businesses must empower an enthusiastic, motivated sales force to energize customers and deliver sales.”
Whether on social media, face-to-face, or phone interactions with customers Durkin urges businesses to focus on:
Respect
“This is of utmost importance. Treat people the way they want to be treated. Treat everyone equally. Ensure customers know that they are being heard—and recognize their ideas and opinions are valuable.”
Integrity
“[This is] an important aspect of the customer service culture. This means always doing what is right for the customer and the organization. It also means never making false promises. Do what you say you are going to do.”
Teamwork
“[This is] an important component for a successful culture. Having a “not my job” attitude never results in good customer service. Good communications with customers, being proactive and informing customers of situations they may encounter is critical to good service. Lastly, maintaining a consistency in fair and responsible customer service will build and sustain a strong culture geared for success.”
“A combination of culture and training will provide the professionalism for great customer interactions,” Durkin concludes. “Respecting individuals for their personal needs, changing business needs, creating positive interactions, anticipating customer needs, and always acting with respect, honesty and integrity will position an organization for a competitive advantage – both in person as well as on social media.”
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. is TMCnet’s Senior Contributing Editor. To read more of Brendan’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Erin Monda