On the other hand, if a customer makes a negative comment, seriously consider taking action to make it right with them. Customer service isn’t just about always doing the right thing; It’s also about how you handle things, when they haven’t gone well.
Potential customers may just be impressed by your open attempts to solve a problem. The fact that you’re pro-actively monitoring complaints online, and responding to them will offer a huge boost to your reputation with many potential customers.
Another advantage to monitoring, that I rarely see mentioned, is that you can use that information to create original content. Write articles and blog posts about a topic that’s hot right now. I’m amazed at how often people don’t have a clue about what to write in their business blogs. If you’re on top of what’s happening, there’s always plenty to write about.
Most people, even businesspersons, ask for advice before buying a product or a service. Many even do this online. By monitoring keywords that have to do with your business you will be notified immediately when someone uses those keywords to get advice about buying. You can immediately offer help, advice, a free consultation – whatever it takes to turn that person into a lead and a customer.
Monitor your business, your competition and your industry. You will protect or enhance your reputation, stay strategic about what the competition is doing, and gather tons of material that will help you create meaningful content at the same time that you’ll be engaging new leads in their own forums.
If you need a few referrals, here are some social media monitoring tools that will help you stay on top of the buzz:
Google Alerts is free, but you’ll end up getting email alerts for unrelated things. For example, I set up an alert for “Maggie Curran” and I get notices every time something is written online about any “Maggie” or any “Curran,” as well. You can sign up for alerts for anything: competitor names, any products, any combination of terms. You name it.
Paid services let you monitor not only your company name online, but your competitors, your products, your competitors products, brands, blogs, industry terminology – virtually anything that would be strategic information for your business. They also have filters you can set up to make the results more meaningful.
Trackur is a paid service that costs between $18 and $377 per month. It may sound like a lot, but if you offer this service to clients, it might be much more cost and time effective.
Alterian’s SM2 offer a Fremium (free) version that gives you up to 1000 results, which works for most small businesses. I’ve been getting really good reports from them.
Radian6 is an industry leader with big clients and their prices reflect this. They won’t even quote you a price online. (Ed. Note: They offer pricing in the FAQ.) They push a sign up for a free demo.
If you’ve got others you prefer using, leave a comment and tell us why.
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