I have a friend who’s a big muckety muck at a major phone/Internet provider. I haven’t seen him in a few months, but I keep remembering a conversation we had over the summer. I won’t bore you with all the minor details, but the bottom line is he (and many of his counterparts) don’t care for bloggers or social networking outlets because it’s harder for complaints to be swept under the rug  or handled quietly. They’d rather not have their flaws made public. I get it. Who wants that kind of negativity? I don’t agree though.  I feel having an online presence is good for business instead of the other way around.

Our conversation began when I mentioned how another blogger complained on her blog about a defective product and poor customer service. The day she posted, a representative from that same company commented saying he would take care of her problem, and he did – immediately.

Soon after that I learned my cable company was being switched to a well-known brand. I asked on Twitter of others’ experiences with this company and lo and behold….a representative of that company reached out to answer my questions. I dug the vibe.

So my friend, the big muckety muck at the phone network ,hates the idea of bloggers talking about their services or folks complaining to The Consumerist or other blogs. Again, I get it. Who wants to look bad?

But…

Consumers are frustrated by a lack of customer service, what other choice to they have?  What happens when you navigate a phone menu to nowhere, or get put through to fake supervisors who don’t help at all? Shouldn’t the folks paying for a service get the best service possible? That’s why I have more confidence in a company with a heavy online presence than with one that chooses to sweep all the bad stuff under the rug.

Should businesses monitor social networks?

Absolutely! It’s important to not only understand what folks are saying and why, but to reach out and offer assurance. In fact, I’d much rather pay extra for a company that rocked the customer care than support anyone who doesn’t put their clientele first and foremost at the top of the priority list. Moreover, if I see someone else having issues with a certain company and see said company reaching out to make amends, it will give me more confidence and maybe even encourage me to do business with them.

Just because a business doesn’t have an online presence doesn’t mean folks aren’t going to talk. Isn’t it better to monitor what they’re saying and reach out to fix the issue than to pretend it doesn’t exist?