Collection agencies and banks are more often using social media to proactively build their brand images, rather than waiting to react to negative customers comments.
The approach is a new school of thought for collectors and lenders. For years, social media was viewed as a way to gather more information about a consumer’s financial assets and job stability, or perhaps aide in skip tracing. For collectors, that’s been frightening territory because of concerns that a legal line may be crossed.
But by leveraging social media as a communications channel, collectors and lenders have an opportunity to get out in front of issues that may harm their brand, while showing a personable side to their company in the process.
“Social media is a channel that allows companies to inject some humanity into their communications with consumers by providing information that can clear up misperceptions or correct mistakes on their part,” says Trip Kucera, senior research analyst, Marketing Effectiveness and Strategy for Boston-based research firm Aberdeen Group Inc. “In doing that, companies show they are listening to consumers, not just talking at them."
Listening to what’s being said before responding is a crucial part of any social media strategy, because the viral nature of the channel can influence thousands of people in the blink of an eye. Hence, a wrongly worded response can be misinterpreted and cause a far greater public relations problem than no response at all.
Twitter, for example, only allows a message of 160 characters —not a lot of space to convey a message. The brevity of Twitter tweets open the door to comments being misunderstood.
“A brand’s health is more vulnerable in the digital age as consumer opinion travels faster and further, spreading like a communicable disease,” writes Chris Stutzman, vice president and principal analyst for Forrester Research in his report titled “Managing Brand Health in the Digital Age.”
“It’s remarkable that chief marketing officers and their organizations are so detached from everyday consumer opinion in an age where the persistent voice of the customer surrounds marketers 24 hours a day through new media like blogs, communities, ratings and reviews, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube,” adds Stutzman.
Knowing when and how to respond to comments in social media is a delicate balancing act. While many companies are using keyword tracking applications to zero-in on what’s being said about them in social media, not all comments require a response.
“There are always going to be complaints about a company in social media. Twitter is sometimes referred to as the world’s complaint department,” says Kucera. “Sound judgment needs to be exercised when responding through social media. Sometimes it’s better not to respond to a standard complaint because it creates the expectation that every complaint will receive a response and that’s unrealistic.”
Collectors and lenders also need to be careful about being perceived as Big Brother when responding to posts in social media.
“If a bank is monitoring what’s being said about it on the Internet jumping into the conversation can seem intrusive to the consumer, especially if his comments did not appear on the bank’s web site or social media page,” says Denyette DiPierro, senior counsel for Washington D.C.-based American Bankers Association. “When and how to respond is very situational.”
Bank of America has set up a Twitter account consumers can use to contact customer service representatives. The account is manned by six customer service agents who sign their initials to each message tweeted. Signing their initials humanizes the interaction for the customer and holds the agent accountable for the content of the message.
While BofA’s foray into Twitter has drawn mostly positive reviews, the bank’s experience with the medium offers a few lessons for others that plan to follow in its footsteps:
- Customer service is a time-sensitive interaction. Customer inquiries not addressed in a timely manner will irritate the customer. A frustrated customer can just as easily use social media to bash a company as praise it.
- Enabling customers to contact the service department through Twitter can lead to abuses by consumers. A customer that immediate attention may send multiple messages using Twitter in the hope that the squeakiest wheel will get oiled first.
- The size of a Twitter message limits the detail of a service representative’s response. In most cases, customers are directed to links for landing pages or sent an 800 number to call a representative directly, which does not always meet customer expectations.
“The space constraints of Twitter certainly pose a challenge, but the channel has its own rhythm and cadence to messages,” says Kucera. “Responses often move people to a web site or blog where the conversation can go deeper. Effective communication in social media channel comes down to understanding the nuances of how consumers communicate in them.”
Taking a proactive approach to communicating with consumers can be a more effective strategy.
Northland Group, an Edina, Minn.-based collection agency, has a Facebook page it uses to promote consumer testimonials about the company, articles about how collection agencies are helping the economic recovery and information about the company, such as how its staff is trained to properly handle late stage collections.
“This is a new school approach to how collection agencies manage their reputation and interact with consumers,” says Mark Schiffman, director of Public Affairs for ACA International. “The goal is to educate consumers about what the company does to break down perceived notions and correct misperceptions.”
Last year, Northland Group lead a seminar at ACA’s annual meeting on how to use social media. ACA is planning a follow-up session at this year’s meeting. Northland did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
While many collectors and lenders have jumped into social media, most are still learning how best to use the medium to communicate with consumers, which is why so many are reluctant to talk about their use of it, according to industry experts.
The best bet for companies entering the world of social media is to treat it as a public relations tool. “There are a lot of positive stories that a company can get out, such as its charitable works, involvement in the community or responding to consumer questions left on the web site,” says ABA’s DiPierro. “There are banks that put up videos on YouTube to respond to questions sent in by customers.”
Lenders can also use LinkedIn to form online communities, such as entrepreneurs, and communicate with them about how to obtain a loan to start a business or invite them to a seminar on the topic. “There are a lot of ways to use the networking capabilities of LinkedIn to move from a virtual relationship to a hands-on relationship,” adds DiPierro.
Ultimately, success in using social media to communicate with and service customers more effectively comes down to the resources collectors and lenders put behind it.
“Resources need to be dedicated to managing the channel and companies need to remember they have to learn to crawl and then walk before they can run,” says Aberdeen’s Kucera. “What’s said in social media can affect a company in many ways, so companies need a well thought out strategy on how to achieve their goals when using it.”
Do’s and Don’t of Social media
Do’s
- Have dedicated resources to monitor social media sites in real-time
- Have established guidelines for when and how to respond via social media
- Archive what’s being said about your company in social media and compare it to what’s been said months prior to determine patterns in commentary
- Track and compare social media commentary by site (Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, etc.
Don’ts
- Don’t come across like Big Brother. Responding to comments outside your social media pages can be viewed as intrusive
- Don’t set expectations you will respond to every complaint in social media; it’s an impractical expectation
- Don’t over post information; too many social media posts can be viewed as redundant and turn off followers
- Watch the tone of your response. Some social media channels only allow for short messages which can be get misinterpreted
