Commentary
VOC Going To Waste
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 7, 2011
A new study by MarketTools, Inc., shows that, although 34% of the executives surveyed stated that they were aware of customers using social media to comment on or complain about their company and its products, less than one-fourth of these executives said that their companies “always” respond to these customers.
Karin Adams, Director of Enterprise Products at MarketTools, says “Companies are increasingly embracing social media as a way to interact with their customers, though they are missing an opportunity to incorporate this feedback into a voice of the customer program...”
The study revealed a disparity in the way companies think and the way they act in regards to customer satisfaction. Although 95% of respondents believe that satisfied customers are very important or extremely important to their company, only 36% have formal voice of the customer (VOC) programs in place to collect and analyze customer feedback. And of those companies with formal VOC programs, 45% solicit customer feedback on a quarterly or less frequent basis.
33% of executives surveyed said that their companies have a greater focus on using social media as a channel to capture customer feedback when compared to this same time last year. When asked what areas of the company are active in social media:
- 44% of those surveyed cited public relations, 42% cited corporate marketing, and product marketing and customer service/support were each cited by 34% of the respondents.
- Of the 68% of companies that have an active presence in social media, 48% have an active presence on Facebook, 24% on Twitter, and 17% on their own company blog.
- 22% of those surveyed stated that their company’s CEO regularly participates in social media on behalf of the company. Facebook is the social media channel of choice, used by 68% of the CEO’s, followed by 44% who participate on the company blog, and 35% who participate on Twitter.
For more information, please visit MarketTools here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.
I have personal experience on this topic, having complained about a Water Heater installation with Home Depot. I posted purely out of frustration about some my purchase, after citing the exact parts list of what was required and making the point I wanted no more expense nor surprises, I received the quote on email. The installer showed up to add hundreds of dollars onto the bill. After complaining online, Home Depot corrected the situation almost within hours (and were extremely nice about it). I had no expectation of a response and was pleasantly shocked to get the call. That was a Facebook posting and I assure you, they do monitor their social site and read customer comments.