Most customers who tweet complaints don’t get answers
A survey shows 71 percent of people don’t hear back when they gripe. But brands that answer can reap benefits.
By now one might think every brand would be combing Twitter for complaints to win back disgruntled customers one tweet at a time.
But a new study shows that 71 percent of customers who tweeted a gripe said they never heard back from the company, a figure that surprises experts who coach social media engagement. Maritz Research surveyed nearly 1,300 U.S. consumers, and its results are all the more unexpected when one considers how much brands have to gain from acknowledging or fixing a problem.
Some 83 percent said they liked or loved hearing back from the company, while only 4 percent perceived the engagement negatively, the study shows.
Surprising results
The results surprised Jay Baer, president of Convince & Convert, who blogged about the study. Experts take it as gospel that customer service departments listen and respond to complaints, he says.
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