As I have said a number of times, I like Twitter… if used in the right way it can be a great micro-blogging tool facilitating information spread and coversation between followers/friends… but I have to agree some of the things users ‘Tweet’ about should probably be kept to themselves. I imagine this is following on from Real Life Facebook, this video illustrates what may happen if you voiced your ‘Tweets’.

Now a quick RANT about the use of Twitter as a communication tool with your customers.

A friend of mine posted a Tweet about an company they were trying to reach on the phone all day, basically complaining about the service. Within 5 mins a phone call from the head of customer services who asked them to remove the Tweet… not addressing the issue but asking for the comment to be taken down. This equals bad customer relations in my book. Plus this will just facilitate a backlash and further dissatisfaction.

This time an example of effective Twitter use… A colleague posted a Tweet about a service “Having a nightmare with X”… again within 5 mins a phone call, but this company wanted to address the main reason why they posted the frustrated comment in the first place. Listening to your customers and responding to constructive comments is a clear way of helping to build a solid relationship long term. No service will ever hit 100% customer satisfaction all of the time, taking onboard the comments and trying to fix the situation is a sure fire way of keeping them happy.

That’s what community marketing is all about… engage and conversation.