Convenience stores can develop a social media program to work in their favor as long as they still employ quality customer service.
By Jim Callahan
Let’s review a long-time conception related to the all-important subject of customer service. Then we’ll delve into the idea of how providing great customer service has evolved from being very important to super critical.
The old “Rule of 16” is based on the premise that if a customer is happy with your service, he or she might share that feeling of satisfaction with five others in the form of praise for your operation. Conversely, if he or she is upset or dissatisfied with your service, the circumstances will get around to 10 other individuals regarding what went wrong.
When you add the disgruntled customer to the five happy recipients and the 10 people who have been forewarned, the Rule of 16 becomes an equation that still deserves attention in every c-store.
When multiplied by the money a customer might spend in a single year which, I peg currently at about $2,000 per year (figuring in $2 per gallon of gas) that comes to thousands of dollars you can gain or give away. Of course, that’s the old mathematics.
NEW MULTIPLIER
There’s a new multiplier—social media, which has taken the world by storm and has rendered the Rule of 16 as stale as yesterday’s news and last week’s bread. With a few keystrokes on a mobile phone, one angry or confused consumer can inform literally hundreds, if not thousands of attentive followers of a real or perceived slight, insult or other customer service faux pas, which you might not have had a chance to address until you see it see it on the company’s Facebook page.
Ouch.
Do we now refer to the multiplier as “The Rule of Hundreds,” as in hundreds of potential customers, multiplied by thousands of dollars? While your first thought might be, ‘not in my lifetime,’ you can’t really figure the full cost until something really grievous happens that drives a wedge between your sterling operation and your customer base. At that point, you have a fire on your hands.
So, the real question becomes: What steps do I take to mitigate the threat of suffering a serious attack on my company’s reputation, which has taken a generation or more to build? Here are a few points to ponder:
- Many of you have already embraced the social media phenomenon and are to be congratulated. You’ve taken the time and made a genuine effort to properly introduce, educate and reward your customers and this alone will make it more difficult for that well-earned reputation to be marred by a few random complaints. Still, there’s always an opportunity to keep improving the program and not let it rest on its laurels.
- If you haven’t yet come to terms with social media 101, I suggest that you make it a short-term priority. You can’t realize your company’s true potential while spotting the competition the ability to offer a valuable and rewarding program that you don’t have, or the means to communicate it.
- If you have a social media program, but it is lackluster by industry standards, and merely gives you bragging rights to say you have one, take this occasion to beef up its capabilities and make it meaningful. If you’re honest with yourself you will be able to tell by the hits you aren’t getting—strongly consider hiring a consultant to get you firmly on track.
- Always remember that social media is a two-edged sword so stick to the script of building a stronger and respected company while staying away from commentary on things like politics and religion that can lead to a controversial situation. Also, roll out your social media program in well-measured stages to keep better control of the program until you are convinced that it’s functioning as you envisioned.
- Also, don’t forget to measure your efforts, try new messaging and engage your customers routinely to see how you’re doing.
You may not personally like or use social media now, but most of your customers use it on a daily basis. It’s never too late to circle the wagons to better control, enhance and protect your corporate brand. Once you have your social media program humming, there’s no doubt you will then be telling success stories around the campfire.
Jim Callahan has more than 40 years of experience as a convenience store and petroleum marketer. His Convenience Store Solutions blog appears regularly on CSDecisions.com. He can be reached at (678)485-4773 or via e-mail at [email protected].