Tweeting your complaint?

Twitter is everywhere. On the cover of magazines, in the news, on mobile phones and indeed on my desktop (love my tweetdeck). There’s been a lot of talk over the last few months of PRs applying social media tactics and companies monitoring social media – blogs, social networking sites etc. for mentions of their company name. While companies have figured out that Twitter can provide the opportunity to listen and respond to what customers are saying about their brands, it still doesn’t seem that easy for companies to strike the right tone on Twitter. Some companies seem too formal while others literally broadcast and use Twitter as a PR channel.

So, how can you get a company’s attention via Twitter? Tweets are an important, but surely only small part of consumers’ voice on the web?

Having been unable to get sufficient information at one of the high street dealerships, I decided to tweet about my frustration and was surprised to receive a response from a support rep within five minutes of my tweet. Amazing, how quickly I was tracked down and offered help. Following an exchange of direct messages, we moved onto email. After a short email trail, it was recommended that the quickest way to solve my query was really to find a high street shop.

Interestingly, even though the intentions were good and I was positively surprised to find that the company was eavesdropping on tweets to promptly provide support where necessary, it feels like the issue has been left dangling. I guess there’s probably still scope for companies to explore how to maximise their electronic customer service strategies. Maybe Twitter isn’t just a micro-blog but a treasure trove for brands looking for real dialogue with real customers.